How We Level Our Super C’s S2RV Chassis (Entegra Accolade) in 9 Easy Steps

Disclaimer: The following advice is not guaranteed to make your RV level, but it may level up your camping game. We are not responsible for any damage to your RV or ego if you attempt to level your RV using our methods.  Please consult with your Owner’s Manual or a professional if you are unsure about leveling your RV or if you find yourself in a level of frustration that cannot be measured by conventional means. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree to indemnify and hold us harmless for any claims, liability, or loss associated with any use the information provided herein. You further agree to share any s'mores you make near the campfire of your newly leveled RV.

What is an S2RV Chassis?

An S2RV chassis is a type of motorhome chassis manufactured by Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) and is typically used for high-end luxury “Super C” motorhomes.

Our 2022 Entegra Accolade XL

Some examples of RVs that have an S2RV chassis are:

1. Tiffin Allegro Bay

2. Entegra Accolade (and Entegra Accolade XL)

3. Jayco Seneca (and Jayco Seneca Prestige)

4. Thor Inception / Thor Pasadena

5. Renegade Valencia

There may be other RV manufacturers that use S2RV chassis as well, but these are some of the most popular ones.

What Leveling System Comes with an S2RV Chassis?

Our S2RV chassis is equipped with an Equalizer leveling system that can be operated from the dash or with the Equalizer smartphone mobile app.

How We Level our Super C on an S2RV Chassis

We belong to and pay attention to many of the RV internet forums (especially the Facebook groups). We’ve noticed that EVERYONE has their own method of leveling their RV.  We wanted to share how we go about leveling our 2022 Entegra Accolade XL (same as a Jayco Seneca Prestige).  Here are the basis steps:

Step 1:  Find a Relatively Level Spot

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The first step is to find a level spot to park our RV.  We use a smartphone app call LevelMatePRO to assist us.  Once the LevelMatePRO mobile app is properly calibrated, it will tell us how many inches each tire (or dually) needs to be moved up or down in order to level the RV in real time.

Usually, I’m outside the coach, trying to eyeball what appears to be the most level spot at our campsite.  Kasie then moves the rig to various spots while looking at the LevelMatePRO mobile app. 

Of course, we don’t have to use a smart phone app to find a level spot at our campsite.  An old-fashioned bubble level or 4-foot level will do the trick, but that takes a LOT more time.  However, we like the ease of having the real time data in the driver’s seat that comes with the LevelMatePRO.

Step 2: Use Leveling Blocks or Boards (if Needed)

Sometimes it is downright impossible to find a relatively level spot.  We may be off as much as 7-8” in some direction.  In such a case, we need to level so that each of our FRONT tires is no more than 4-5” from being level (more on that later).  We carry a few leveling devices with us for that purpose. 

·       If only our rear wheels need raised.  

If only one or both of our rear wheels need raised, we have two 2x8” boards that we can roll our wheels onto.  We like to use these boards if our rear wheels need raised because the boards are long enough that I can place a single board underneath a pair of our rear wheels.  (Note:  I also like having these boards on hand just in case we might get suck somewhere so we could place them underneath the tires.)

·       If only our front wheels need raised.  

If only one or both of our front wheels need raised, we have some Beechlane levelers that are a little easier to roll onto so if we just need the front wheels raised a bit, these are a great option.

·       More complicated leveling. 

We also have 20 stackable Camco leveling blocks that we place under the relevant wheels. We only use them to raise the front wheels because they pretty much get crushed under the weight of the rear wheels.

Camco 44505 Leveling Blocks 10 Count Buy on Amazon

We also own these Camco Leveling blocks….just in case. The first time we used them on our rear wheels, the weight of our big Super C caused some of the plastic to deform. We don’t recommend them for large rigs, but they might be okay for smaller RVs. We’ve also found that we can use them on the front wheels.

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Once we think we’ve found a decently level spot using our LevelMatePRO (and used the boards or leveling blocks as needed), we stop and engage the parking brake.

Step 3:  Ignore the Equalizer Auto-Leveling Function

Our S2RV chassis comes with an Equalizer leveling system that includes an auto-leveling function.   With a push of a button, the RV is supposed to magically level itself.  However, in our experience, the auto-level function tends to “level” the coach with the front wheels much higher than they need to be.  In fact, in many instances, the auto-leveling function will result in the front (or sometimes even the back) tires coming off the ground.

So what do we do?  We ignore the auto-leveling function and level the coach manually. 

RV owners often disagree about whether having the front tires of the ground is acceptable.   The 2022 Entegra Accolade Owner’s Manual (page 40) says: “Never lift the wheels off of the ground when leveling the motor home.” Likewise, the Entegra Equalizer Owner’s Manual (page 4) states: “Do not attempt to lift the vehicle tires off of the ground.”

We are in the “all tires down at all times” camp.  

Our Super C manual states that the tires should never be off the ground!

We level our Super C manually to avoid having the tires come off the ground.

Step 4:   Drop/Extend the Rear Jacks (HHHHiiiiisssss!)

Using the Equalizer mobile app, we drop the rear leveling jacks first.   As this occurs, the rear air bags will start to deflate such that an audible “hissing” sound will persist for several minutes.   Don’t worry.  That’s normal. 

After the hissing subsides, we raise the rear jacks slightly.  As this occurs, the rear of the chassis will lower because the rear air bags are no longer inflated.  We then drop the rear jacks again so that the are properly grounded. 

(2024 Update): We recently added a rear air back dump valves so that the air car be released more quickly to expedite our set-up. Here’s the basic design:

Our rear air bag dump set-up.

Step 5:  Drop/Extend the Front Jacks

After rear air bags have been deflated and the rear jacks are grounded, we then extend the front jacks and ground them as well.

Step 6:  Level, Level, and Level Again

Now, the real leveling fun begins.   We need to raise and/or lower the jacks to make the RV level. 

We’ve found that is it easier to level the coach using two phones.   In one hand, we have the Equalizer leveling app open to control the position of the leveling jacks.  In another hand, we have the LevelMatePRO app open to see precisely how each tire needs to be raised or lowered in real time.   We start by leveling from front to back, and then turn to leveling from side to side. We always make sure that ALL of the tires are on the ground at all times!

After the LevelMatePRO tells us that we are level, we are almost done. 

Step 7:  Double Check Our Work

After the LevelMatePRO tells us that we are level, we double check our work the old fashioned way.   That means getting out the bubble level and/or the 4’ level inside of the coach.  

Double-checking our leveling work with a 4-foot level

Step 8:  Extend the Slides 

The Owner’s Manual to for our Entegra Accolade has conflicting information about whether the coach should be leveled with the slides extended or the slides retracted.  On one page, the manual states:

“The slideout room should be extended (with the air suspension fully aired up) before leveling jacks are deployed. Wheels MUST be straight. When the coach is leveled, air bags are dumped of air which lowers the fenders below the tops of the wheels. If the wheels are not straight, fenders and/or tires WILL be damaged. DO NOT DUMP AIR FROM AIR BAGS UNLESS WHEELS ARE STRAIGHT!”

 Then, on another page, the Owner’s Manual states: “The recreation vehicle must be level before operating the slideour room.”

Level before extending the slides? This page from our 2022 Entegra Accolade Owner’s Manual says “no.”

Level before extending the slides? This page from our 2022 Entegra Accolade Owner’s Manual says “yes.”

We’ve decided that extending the slide when the RV is not level would cause the slide mechanisms to undergo stress.  As such, we level our coach before extending the slides.

Step 9:  Triple Check Our Work (& Level Again?)

Once our slides are extended, we then check to see if we are still level using the LevelMatePRO mobile app.  We like to use the bullseye and 4’ level here as well to double-check our work. 

In our experience, extending the slides does not change how level we are in any material way.   At most, extending the slides results in no more than a ¼” change.   In the unusual case where we need more than a ¼” adjustment, we would use the Equalizer mobile app to manually move the jacks slightly until all sides are level with the slides out. 

Step 10 (optional): Celebrate

After finishing the leveling process, it is time to celebrate. For us, that usually means grabbing a beer while we set up the rest of our campsite and RV. So cheers to you! And good luck leveling your RV!

DISCLAIMERS: PLEASE DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR RIG! We are NOT affiliated with any of these manufacturers and just want to share our experiences about the products and project in this blog. We do get a very small commission at no cost to you if you use one of the Amazon Links (a/k/a beer money).

Coachella Valley Preserve

One of the MOST POPULAR hikes in the greater Palm Springs area is the Coachella Valley Preserve, and for good reason.  When visitors first enter the preserve from the surrounding Colorado Desert, they might feel like we did – like we just stepped foot into a scene from Jurassic Park.  Second, the preserve is FREE to explore (although donations are welcome). 

Be sure and check out our video for more information on Coachella Valley Preserve (including our hike to the Simone Pond / McCallum Grove).

How to Get to Coachella Valley Preserve

Coachella Valley Preserve is located just a hundred yards or so from Thousand Palms Canyon Road.  The small parking lot was closed during each of our visits so we parked on the road.   As we approached the preserve, we first encountered the Visitor’s Center located in the Thousand Palms Oasis and a volunteer who explained some of the history and highlights of the Coachella Valley Preserve.  

What is the Coachella Valley Preserve

Entrance to the Coachella Valley Preserve (Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve)

Established in the 1980s to protect and preserve rare and endangered plant and animal species in the area, the Coachella Valley Preserve encompasses over 20,000 acres and features several distinct habitats, including desert wetlands, sand dunes, and rocky canyons.   The Coachella Valley Preserve is actually a system of preserves comprised of three separate units (1) Whitewater Floodplain Unit, (2) the Edom Hill/Willow Hole Unit, and (3) the Thousand Palms Unit. The “Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve” within the Thousand Palms Unit is also often referred to as the “Coachella Valley Preserve” —which was confusing to me at first because it is only part of the Coachella Valley Preserve System. The Center for Land Management owns the Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve, while the other major land owners within the Thousand Palms Unit of the Coachella Valley Preserve System are the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

For purposes of this blog, I’m generally calling the Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve as the Coachella Valley Preserve because that seems to be how the locals refer to it and that is what the sign says at the main entrance.

The Formation of the Coachella Valley Preserve

Towering California fan palms at the Coachella Valley Preserve

What makes the Coachella Valley Preserve unique is that it is located near the San Andreas Fault, which is a tectonic boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. The Coachella Valley Preserve is situated on the north side of the San Andreas Fault, which means that the land on which the Preserve sits is slowly moving northward as the Pacific plate pushes against the North American plate. This movement has resulted in the formation of the San Bernardino Mountains, which rise to the north of the Preserve.

One of the main features of the Coachella Valley Preserve resulting in part from the San Andreas Fault is the presence of several natural springs and underground aquifers that provide water to the desert ecosystem.  Through a combination of geological and hydrological processes, those springs and the underground aquifers created the Thousand Palms Oasis, one of the largest and most spectacular palm groves in the region.  Large black ravens and other birds cawed and flew among the huge California fan huge palms that form the oasis.  These palm trees, which are the only palm species native to California, can grow up to 75 feet tall and can live for over 100 years.

The Thousand Palms Oasis has a number of picnic tables and benches for visitors, and is the starting point for several hiking trails.  Most people (like us) came to hike.

Hiking Trail Options at the Coachella Valley Preserve

The McCallum Trail (named after Harold McCallum, who helped establish the Coachella Valley Preserve) is one of the most popular hiking trails at the Coachella Valley Preserve.   The 2.5-mile round trip trail begins at the Thousand Palms Oasis, extends through a desert wash, and ends at the McCallum Grove and the Simone Pond (a/k/a McCallum Pond).  The latter area features a large stand of California fan palms, which are home to a variety of bird species, including the endangered Southwestern willow flycatcher.  We even saw a Great Horned Owl nestled in one of the California fan palms.  Along the way, there are several interpretive signs that provide information about the history and ecology of the area.    

Sign showing the closure of SImone Pond / McCallum Pond

Pro Tip:  Simone Pond/McCallum Grove is only open on days where volunteers are able to monitor visitors (usually just a few hours on the weekends).   One of the volunteers told us that a few years ago, the pond’s ecosystem was ruined when people started putting non-native and invasive species into the pond (everything from guppies to tilapia).  Indeed, the only fish native to the pond is the Desert Pupfish (Cyprinodon macularis), and the pond was restocked after being poisoned to remove the invasive species and then rehabilitated and restocked with the pupfish.   

McCallum Grove / Simone Pond at Coachella Valley Preserve

Coachella Valley Preserve is home to a number of other trails, but the McCallum Trail is by far the one most traveled.  Other trail options include:

(1)    Moon Country Loop (4.0 miles) – moderate – 310 ft elevation gain

(2)    Pushwalla Palms Loop (4.4 miles) – moderate – 705 ft elevation gain

(3)    Hidden Palms Loop (1.9 miles) – moderate – 259 ft elevation gain

(4)    Horseshoe Palms Loop (4.4 miles) – moderate – 554 ft elevation gain

(5)    Herman’s Hike Loop (7.0 miles) – difficult – 1187 ft elevation gain

(6)    Willis Palms Loop (4.1 miles) – moderate - 531 ft elevation gain

The Coachella Valley Preserve is open Wednesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m so it is important to plan enough time for the longer hikes. In addition, it’s also important to bring plenty of water. Drones and dogs (except service dogs) are not allowed on the trails either.

We are very thankful for the volunteers of the Coachella Valley Preserve, who helped us learn more about the history, beauty and diversity of the area.  If you are an avid hiker or want to simply learn more about this geological wonder, make the Coachella Valley Preserve a must stop on your visit to the Palm Springs area.

If you are looking for other things to do in the area, check out Redfin’s Desert Oasis Escapes: 16 Must-Experience Activities in Palm Springs. They were kind enough to include this blog in their article!

Catalina Spa & RV Resort - Review

Where:  Catalina Spa & RV Resort (Desert Hot Springs)
Cost:  $1050/month (for full hook-ups; all utilities included)
When: February 8 - March 8, 2023

Aerial View of the Catalina Spa & RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs

For a month during the winter of 2023, we stayed at Catalina Spa & RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs.  This was the largest (468 sites) and most expensive RV park ($1050/month) we have stayed in to date.  In my opinion, Catalina was also the first true “resort” that we called our temporary home. 

Check out video above for all of the details on the Catalina Spa & RV Park. Here are the highlights: 

How are the Sites at the Catalina Spa & RV Resort?

All of the sites at the RV park are back-in. Many come with a concrete pad (ours did not). Our site was all hard-packed sand/gravel but level.  As you can see from this aerial photo above, all of the sites are on the small side. However, we did not find ourselves spending much time at our site because there was so much to see and do in the area, including at the Catalina Spa & RV Park itself.

What Activities are Offered at the Catalina Spa & RV Resort?

Calendar of Events at the Catalina Spa & RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs

Catalina offered lots of activities, which included pickle ball lessons and tournaments card bingo, dog school, a weekly jam session for resident musicians, bocce ball tournaments, art and watercolor fun, a Valentines Day dance, Superbowl Party, Mexican potluck, and a weekly happy hour for new guests.   The RV park sent out an email every few days with upcoming calendar of events. We took advantage of some of those activities, but the best part about the RV park were the two pool areas, each of which had a mineral spa.   I cannot tell you how great it was to soak in the spas and drink a beer after a long hike or other adventure in the area.  

The Catalina RV Park also boasts a couple of indoor and outdoor clubhouse spaces for gatherings, a small miniature golf course, shuffle board and bag tossing area, laundry facilities ($2.50/load), well-equipped gym/fitness center, and fenced-in dog park. 

Another bonus to the Catalina RV Park is that it had site-side trash pick-up (similar to curbside pick-up for sticks-and-bricks). Rather than have to haul trash to a centralized dumpster, we simply place our trash and recycling in front of our site, and by mid-morning, it was picked up.

Mini golf course (put-put) at Catalina Spa & RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs

Outdoor gathering space at the Catalina Spa & RV Resort

Fitness area / gym at Catalina Spa & RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs

Outdoor gathering space at the Catalina Spa & RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs

Is the Catalina RV Park Pet-Friendly?

The Catlina Spa & RV Resort is pet-friendly. Here, Sophie and Billie meet some goats who were stayng at the RV Park.

Catalina was very pet friendly.  As noted above, there’s a good-sized dog fenced-in dog park at the resort. The dog park as two adjacent sections so that the “big dogs” can play in one area and the “small dogs” can play in another area.

For about 10 days, there were three pet goats at a site right by the dog park!  Our site backed up to a line of trees that outline the perimeter of the RV park, but beyond that was a large vacant field where lots of RVers would walk their dogs (or goats!) both on-leash and off-leash.  

How is the Internet at Catalina Spa & RV Park?

Catalina has two wi-fi systems. There is a free wi-fy system that is slower, but will allow residents to do tasks like check email and do banking. There is another wi-fi system that permits streaming for an additional fee. The cost for the upgraded wi-fi was $6.99 daily, $21.95 weekly, and $69.95 monthly PER DEVICE. Needless to say, we are glad that we have Starlink as our internet provider (which worked flawlessly).

What Issues Did We Have at the Catalina Spa & RV Park?

Our Watchdog surge protector detected a voltage issue on a few occasions (we don’t know if there was actually a voltage issue or not), but beyond that, our say was delightfully uneventful.  

A power outage also caused the key card reader for the gate to the RV park to stop working. Catalina’s staff was also great about keeping residents up-to-date when the card reader would be operational again, and in the meantime, the RV Park also had someone stationed outside of the park entrance to operate the gate so that residents could come and go as needed.

Is the Catalina Spa & RV Park kid-friendly?

Several families with kids stayed at the RV park, and those kids took advantage of the amenities in at Catalina. Although one of the pool/spa areas is designated as the “family” one, we saw kids in both pool/spa areas.

The vast majority of the residents at the Catalina RV Spa & RV park were retirees, many of which were Canadians wintering in the area. We made friends our 75-year-old and 83-year-old Canadian neighbors, who had been coming to the park for 17 years.  They gave us tips on where to explore and also invited us to go on one of their many bike rides around town.  Lots of Canadians call Catalina home during the winter, and the RV Park hosted a little appreciation event for them as well.

What Attractions are Close to Catalina Spa & RV Park?

Simone Pond / McCallum Grove at Coachella Valley Preserve

The location of the Catalina RV Spa & Resort is a mixed bag.   Because we were on the northern end of the Coachella Valley, most of our activities outside of the park (including grocery shopping at the nearest Walmart or Aldi) were at least a 20-minute drive into the valley.   Some of our excursions into the valley included:

(1) Hiking at Coachella Valley Preserve (a/k/a Thousand Palms Oasis). This was MY FAVORITE hike in the area

(2) Traveling to Mount San Jacinto in the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. This was MY FAVORITE excursion overall!

(3) Hiking at Tahquitz Canyon.

(4) Exploring Modernism Week in Palm Springs.

The park’s northern location also made us closer to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve (great for bird watching and hiking) and to Joshua Tree National Park. 

How is the Weather Near Catalina Spa & RV Resort?

Windmills near Desert Hot Springs

In terms of Catalina’s location, it’s worth noting that it is VERY WINDY in Desert Hot Springs. Indeed, the mountain landscape is filled with churning with churning windmills. On many days, the winds at the RV park were 15-20 mph. On average, it seemed like the winds were about 5-10 mph more in Desert Hot Springs compared to Palm Springs and other parts of the valley. Likewise, Desert Hot Springs was usually about 5 degrees or more cooler than Palm Springs. Those differences may not always be the case, but that was what we experienced during our one-month stay in the area.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway — Is it AWESOME?

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, also known as the Palm Springs Tram, is the world's largest rotating tramcar!  The tramcar makes two complete revolutions through the 10-minute 2.5 mile journey through Chino Canyon up to Mount San Jacinto.  The Palm Springs tram ride and the mountaintop was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I kept channeling my inner Valley Girl by repeatedly just saying “AWESOME” throughout the day.

To really undrestand the adventure (and my obvious enthusiasm for the tram), check out our video.

How to Visit the Palm Springs Tramway

One of the old Tram Cars at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Located in the San Jacinto Mountains in California, the Palm Springs tram connects the valley floor of Palm Springs to near the peak of Mount San Jacinto.  The trip begins at the Valley Station (elevation 2,643 feet) and ends at the Mountain Station (elevation 8,516 feet).   Tickets are about $30/person, and visitors must also purchase a $12 parking pass so it cost us about $75 in total.    We booked our tickets about three weeks in advance because tickets sell out quickly.

We visited in February 2023, just around the time that the Palm Springs area had been experiencing unusual amounts of cold and precipitation.   The inclement weather meant that the mountains would be covered in more snow that they had seen in at least a decade.   I also think that the weather kept many folks from visiting that day.   The temperature at the Mountain Station can be up to 30 degrees cooler than the valley floor.  

There are several parking lots, and we were told to go to Parking Lot F, which was withing walking distance to the Valley Station.  A handful of open-air buses/trams provide transportation from the parking lots to the Valley Station for boarding.   A couple of the old non-rotating tram cars are located nearby, which make for a nice selfie.

What to Expect on the Palm Springs Tram Ride Up Mount San Jacinto

Counterweight at the Mountain Station of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Before boarding the tram, there’s a waiting area for passengers.  There isn’t a whole lot to do there, but we downloaded the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mobile app and scrolled through it do learn more about what we were going to see.  In the Valley Station, there’s a live feed to the Engine Room there just prior to the waiting area, and at the Mountain Station, there’s a large window that shows the counterweight pit.

Interestingly, there are two trams running at any given time.  One goes up the hill, and another tram goes down the mountain.    The engine at the bottom of the mountain actually pulls the tram down, and because the trams are all on the same cable loop, that action causes the other tram to go up the mountain.   To keep tension in the cables, a massive counterweight is used.  We learned that as counterweight moves up and down more rapidly, that means that the car is rolling over one of the towers. Awesome.

Open window at the Palm Springs Tramway showing the supporting towers

Once we got on the tram ride, more awesomeness ensued.   Each car can hold 80 people maximum, but because we boarded the car last, we were right by the rotating walls of the tram car during our ascent and decent.    As we traversed each of four towers, the tram car jerked a little as people let out nervous laughter similar to what I’ve experienced on a turbulent airplane ride.  As we traveled the 5,873 feet in elevation, we slowly watched the desert below give way to snow-topped mountains and giant cliffs.   The tram cars each have a handful of windows that are cracked about 8-10 inches so that we could take unobstructed photos of the surrounding landscape and breath in the fresh mountain air. 

History and Construction of the Palm Springs Tram

The idea for the tramway was first conceived in the early 1930s by Francis F. Crocker, an electrical engineer and philanthropist.   He thought that traveling near the peak of Mount San Jacinto would provide cool relief from the desert valley.  He was convinced that the tramway would be a popular tourist attraction and a source of revenue for the region. However, he faced many obstacles in turning his vision into reality such that the project got the nickname “Crocker’s Folly.” 

In addition to the technical challenges, finding a way to finance the construction of the tramway and obtain governmental support was equally difficult.  The Great Depression, World War II, and the Korean War all delayed the start of the projects such that construction on the tramway did not begin until 1961.  The first step was to build a road up the steep slope of Chino Canyon, where the tramway would be located. This was an enormous undertaking, as the road had to be carved into the mountain using hand tools and dynamite. Once the road was in place, work on the tramway could begin.

Rotair - Rotating Tram Car at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

The construction of the tramway itself was a monumental task. The tramway consists of five support towers, with the tallest being 221 feet high, that lie between the Valley Station and the Mountain Station.   Each track cable was more than 13,000 feet long and weighed 60 tons.  Yellow helicopter pads are located on each tower, and helicopters were used to haul up the men, materials, and machinery to build the tram.  Helicopters flew over 23,000 times, hauling more than 5,500 tons of stuff during construction!   When the tram was completed in 1963, it was dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” 

Around 2000, the tram was modernized to include the “Rotair” – the rotating tram cars.  Each one is 18 feet in diameter and 8 feet tall and facilitates 360-degree views during the ride.   There are only a couple of other rotating tram cars in operation in the world, and the rotational nature of the experience what really sets it apart from a regular gondola ride. 

What is there to Do out Mountain Station?

At the Mount San Jacinto State Park sign after riding the Palm Springs Tram

The Mountain Station is located within Mt. San Jacinto State Park, and there are several hiking trails nearby, including (1) the Long Valley Discovery Trail (1.3 mile; easy), (2) Desert View Trail (1.5 mile, easy).  We walked about a hundred yards down a shoveled sidewalk with a few icy patches, took some photos, and decided we were not in the mood to trek through any snow and needed to warm up. 

The Mountain Station is also home to two restaurants, including a full-service bar, were we grabbed a couple of overpriced $12 Coachella Brewing craft beers and gazed as the mountain side though some large windows near the stairways.  

Drinking a Coachella Beer at the Mountain Station of the Palm Springs Aerial Tram

The Mountain Station has two theatres, and we watched “Building On a Dream” where we learned all about the history, construction, and engineering of the Palm Springs Tramway.   The grainy movie was made over two decades ago (copyrighted 2002) and needs some serious updating.   That’s probably my only complaint about the entire experience.   The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mobile App hits the highlights, and I would recommend over the movie.

Overall, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was a true AWESOME “bucket list” experience for me. Like totally awesome.

Exploring Tahquitz Canyon

Visitors Center at Tahquitz Canyon

Tahquitz Canyon is located in the southern part of California's San Jacinto Mountains, near the city of Palm Springs.  Owned and operated by the Aqua Caliente people, the canyon is a popular destination for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, offering stunning views of the desert landscape and the surrounding mountains.   The cost to enter Tahquitz Canyon is $15/person, but that also includes access to a guided ~2-mile hike that is offered periodically throughout the day (8 am, 10 am, noon, 2pm).  We joined about 25 other people on a busy Friday in February for the 10 am ranger-led interpretive hike.  

The trail is rated as moderate, with some steep and rocky sections, but it is generally accessible to most hikers.  The trail is comprised of two connected loops so hikers can take different paths if they want.  The elevation gain is about 351 feet. Along the way, we enjoyed views of towering rock formations, native vegetation, and the canyon's vibrant colors.  However, the best part of the hike was learning more about the canyon itself and its history.

If you are thinking of hiking the Tahquitz Canyon trail, you might want to check out our this video excerpt.

Tahquitz Falls

Tahquitz Falls in Tahquitz Canyon

The Tahquitz Canyon Trail took us through a scenic desert landscape to the base of a gorgeous 60-foot waterfall.  The falls was originally called “Pal hani kalet by Ca wis ke on ca” and it is thought to be a place of power by the Aqua Caliente people.  For most hikers, the falls serves as the half-way point on the hike and a place to wait in line for a selfie by the falls.   A few people braved getting into the water, and our guide told us that there are other waterfalls in back of Tahquitz falls that are off-limits. 

Who Was Tahquitz?

Tahquitz is a figure from Cahuilla Native American mythology and folklore, and is considered to be a powerful shaman or sorcerer. He is said to have lived in the San Jacinto Mountains near what is now Palm Springs, California, and is often depicted as a malevolent spirit or trickster who caused chaos and mischief in the world of the Cahuilla people.  According to legend, Tahquitz was a powerful shaman who used his knowledge of magic and sorcery to manipulate the natural world and control the spirits of animals and plants. He was feared and respected by the Cahuilla people, who believed that he had the power to cause droughts, floods, and other natural disasters if he was angered or offended.  Our guide told us that his spirit still lives in a secret cave below a large rock that bears his name.  Strange canyon rumblings, boulder crashes, and other events are sometimes attributed to Tahquitz as he angrily walks about the canyon. 

Folklore on Tahquitz Canyon

Rock in Tahquitz Canyon that some say was once a lost maiden

Along the hike, our ranger told us stories of the Aqua Caliente people in relation to the landscape around us. Indeed, the Cahuilla tribe, who have lived in the area for thousands of years, have their own creation story that involves the canyon. According to their myth, the world was created by a powerful being named Mukat, who shaped the land and created the first humans. The Cahuilla believe that Tahquitz Canyon was one of Mukat's most sacred creations, and they continue to honor it to this day.

My favorite was the thestory of the young maiden who got lost from her tribe, and a rock sitting on top of a huge bolder suddenly appeared in the area where she disappeared.  The rock is named “Cow is ice la” in honor of the woman who had the power to turn herself into the rock.

Artifacts in Tahquitz Canyon

Mortar stone at Tahquitz Canyon

Our guide also pointed out were a number of artifacts had been along our hike, some of which are more than 1,500 years old.   Rocks were ground down to make mortars used by the Aqua Caliente people and then used to create medicines or prepare meals. 

Water from Tahquitz Canyon

For me, one of the most interesting things about Tahquitz Canyon are the hydrologic features, including the (1) the Lebacho-Tahquitz Creek Ditch and (2) USGS Gaging Station. 

The Lebacho-Tahquitz Creek Ditch

About ½ to the Tahquitz Falls, we saw remnants of the Lebacho-Tahquitz Creek Ditch, which was originally built by the Aqua Caliente People 1830 to transport water from the Tahquitz Creek to their village in present-day Palm Springs.  A large earthquake in the 1850s caused the water flow in the creek to change from a year-round flowing stream to a seasonal water source.   Nonetheless, the ditch could still be used to irrigate crops and played a vital role in the development of the region's agricultural economy.  In the early 20th century, the federal government helped line the ditch with mortar and cobblestone and also added a diversion dam.  However, in 1926, a flash flood wiped much of that work and the ditch was never rebuilt.  Today, the Lebacho Tahquitz Creek Ditch is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains an important part of the region's history and cultural heritage.

Part of the Diversion Dam in Tahquitz Canyon

USGS Gaging Station

About ¾ of the way to Tahquitz Falls, our guide pointed out the US Geological Survey (USGS) gaging station, which is still used today.  The station measures the water level and flow of Tahquitz Creek, a major tributary of the Coachella Valley's Whitewater River, using a stream gage, which consists of a metal frame with sensors that measure the height and velocity of the water. This data is transmitted to a computer system, where it is processed and made available to the public.

The data collected at the Tahquitz Canyon gaging station is used by a variety of organizations and individuals, including water managers, flood forecasters, hydrologists, and recreational users. For example, the data can be used to monitor the water supply for local communities and agriculture, to plan for flood control measures, and to assess the suitability of the creek for recreational activities such as hiking and swimming.

Plant Life on Tahquitz Canyon

Flowers of the chuparosa bush (a/k/a butterfly bush) tasted like fresh cucumber

As we traversed the canyon, our guide also pointed out some of the unique plants that adapted to the hot and arid environment of the desert.  We had fun with a couple of plants.

Tahquitz Canyon is dotted with thousands of the creosote bushes (Larrea tridentata). This plant is a shrub that grows up to 10 feet tall and has small green leaves.  Our guide encouraged us to cup part of the bush in our hand and smell it.  The aroma is that of a recent rain.

Another plant commonly found in Tahquitz Canyon is the chuparosa (Justicia californica). This plant is a small, evergreen shrub with bright red, tubular flowers that bloom throughout the year. The chuparosa is an important source of nectar for hummingbirds and other pollinators.  With prompting from our guide, I ate part of one of the red flowers and it tasted like fresh cucumber!

Are There Other Hikes in Tahquitz Canyon?

Tahquitz Canyon Trail Map

For more experienced hikers, the Tahquitz Peak Trail offers a more challenging trek to the summit of Tahquitz Peak. This 8-mile round trip hike is rated as difficult, with steep climbs, switchbacks, and a total elevation gain of over 2,500 feet. However, hikers who make it to the summit are reportedly rewarded with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. For clarity, we did not do the longer hike as we felt like the shorter hike to Tahquitz Falls was sufficient.

When hiking on Tahquitz Canyon, it is important to come prepared with plenty of water, sunscreen, and appropriate footwear. The desert environment can be harsh and unforgiving, so hikers should also be aware of the potential for heat exhaustion, dehydration, and other hazards.   When we purchase our tickets for the hike, we had to verbally confirm that we had enough water for a 2.5-hour hike.   In the summer, I’ve heard that hikers have to show that they have at least 2 liters of water/person before being able to access the trail.  

Are the Better Hikes in the Palm Springs Area than Tahquitz Canyon?

While we enjoyed our hike in Tahquitz Canyon, I think there are better hikes in the Palm Springs area.  Our guide had been on the job less than a month, and he needed help with his communication skills.  For the most part, I got the gist of what he said, but then had to research topics after our hike.  I’m sure he will get better….

My other criticism is the cost. In generally, I think that $15/person is a little pricey for a hike.  Sure, there is a really tall waterfall and nice views, but the price still seems a little steep. Plus, cost is the same whether hikers do the guided one or not. I would like to hike Tahquitz Canyon again, and it would be nice if there was an option for a self-guided hike that was half the cost.  

Lastly, I should note that are a lot of great hikes in the area that are FREE.  Our favorite free hike during our stay in the Palm Springs area was the Coachella Valley Preserve a/k/a Thousand Palms Oasis (although donations are welcome).    

Becoming a “Winter Texan” — Things to do near Rockport, Texas

Where:  Quilly's Big Fish RV Park (Rockport, Texas) (Site #23)
Cost:  $380/month plus electric for full hook-ups ($150 deposit for electric)
Bucket List:  Birding (Whooping Crane alert!) at Goose Island State Park
Beer:  Doggone Brewery (Rockport, Texas)

We spent our first winter at full-time RVers in Rockport, Texas— just a few miles from the coast. The mainland area consists of several small towns (Fulton, Rockport, Ingleside, and Aransas Pass) dotted with hundreds of RV parks.  Corpus Christi is the nearest city about a half-hour to the south and Mustang Island (Port Aransas) is accessible by a ferry ride to the east.  The locals call folks like us “Winter Texans” and really put out the welcome mat. Our stay was relaxing, welcoming, and just what we needed.

If you are headed to the Rockport area, here are some things to think about:

1. Where to Stay: Quilly's RV Park

2. Where to Go Birding

   • Top Pick: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

   • Goose Island State Park (Whooping Cranes!)

   • Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center

   • Other Birding Locations Near Rockport, Texas

3. Where to Drink Beer Near Rockport

4. How to Travel: The Port Aransas Ferry

5. Day Trips to Corpus Christi

Where to Stay: Quilly’s RV Park

Aerial view of Quilly’s RV Park in Rockport, Texas

Quilly’s RV Park is a small family-owned RV park with 51 sites, all of which either back-into a stocked fishing pond, or a pasture mowed with several trails.  The sites are gravel with a concrete pad, but are decently spaced apart.   Other amenities include a small laundry building ($1.50/load) and decent wi-fi.  Residents can also rent some on-site storage units.   The park has cleared some land to build a community center and in-ground swimming pool.  

Campground managers Keith and Danelle greeted us with a goodie bag filled with information about the area, a souvenire keychain/bottle opener, and some Quilly’s-branded fish food.   As we chatted, they told us about the “Winter Texan Appreciation” even that the local chamber of commerce would be hosting later that month.   The RV Park would also host a pot-luck later that month, where residents would show off their faborite soup recipe. “Let us know if ya’all needed anything else,” Keith said.   

Turns out, the only thing we ended up needing during our stay was a new fishing pole and some good binoculars for bird watching.   The temperatures were a little chilly (usually in the 70s) for beach bumming so that’s what a lot of the Winter Texans do in the area:  fish and bird watch.

Quilly’s was a perfect place to do both.  Quilly’s is home to four fishing ponds, and our site backed up to a small fishing pond about 30 yards away.  We bought a cheap fishing pole from Walmart and spent several hours by the side of “our” pond.  We spotted a few egrets, turtles, and birds as well.  I picked up a new causal hobby during our stay – birding – and have much more to say on that below.   Several trails snaked around our pond, and those trails were a great place to walk the dogs and stretch our legs.

My only complaint about Quilly’s is are the two bumpy gravel roads that lead from the highway into the park. Even though going slow, our rig took a pretty good beating on the way into the park because of all of the bumps and holes in the road. We literally traveled at 1-2 mph as we were leaving the park with our RV, and that helped a little. A little maintenance to those roads would be welcome.

Overall, I absolutely loved our time at Quilly’s RV park in Rockport, Texas!  Thank you to owners Leo and Katie (and managers Keith and Danelle) for a wonderful first time in the area as Winter Texans!

Where to Go Birding Near Rockport

One of the big draws to to the Rockport area is the numerous birds that call it home during all or part of the year. Birders flock to the year to watch and count the birds. We decided to give “birding” a try, and by the end of our stay in Rockport, I’m proud to call myself an amateur “birder.” Here are some of the places that we explored on our birding adventures.

Top Pick: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Our first birding expedition was to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. a protected area in Texas that is home to a diverse array of plant and animal life, including many species of birds and alligators. The refuge is located on the coast of Texas and is known for its wetlands, which provide habitat for a wide range of species.  Within a few minutes, we spotted our first alligator swimming across a marshy area just off a pier near the Visitor’s Center.

Wildlife at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (Texas)

Our luck did not stop there. We decided to visit on a Saturday and also lucked out because Bob Showler, a longtime park ranger-turned-volunteer and bird expert, was giving a guided tour of the area.   Bob lent us each a pair of binoculars, and we joined about a dozen other folks of varying levels of birding expertise for a driving caravan that lasted about 2.5 hours.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the Aransas National Wildlife Preserve has resulted in an astounding 405 species of waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds.  Visitors can obtain a checklist of those birds with delineations that outline whether a bird is common, uncommon, occasional, rare, or there is no record of the bird during each season (spring, summer, fall, winter).  The checklists also lets birders know whether the bird’s habitat is aquatic, brushland, forest/woodland, grassland, or marsh. 

It was amazing to see Bob and the other experienced birders point out and name a particular bird.  In some cases, they would hear a bird and immediately call out the species.  At the conclusion of the tour, Bob graciously volunteered to email us a list of what he saw that day.  The list is definitely “what he saw” because I didn’t see half of what Bob saw.  Here’s the list though:

1.     Blue-winged Teal (6)
2.     Gadwall (2)
3.     American Wigeon (2)
4.     Least Grebe (1)
5.     Pied-billed Grebe (3)
6.     Eurasian Collared-Dove (2)
7.     Common Gallinule (4)
8.     American Coot (1)
9.     Killdeer (3)
10.  Wilson's Snipe (1)
11.  Greater Yellowlegs (2)
12.  Willet (1)
13.  Forster's Tern (1)

14.  Neotropic Cormorant (2)
15.  American White Pelican (15)
16.  Brown Pelican (2)
17.  Great Blue Heron (5)
18.  Great Egret (1)
19.  Little Blue Heron (2)
20.  Tricolored Heron (1)
21.  Reddish Egret (1)
22.  Green Heron (1)
23.  White Ibis (5)
24.  Roseate Spoonbill (6)
25.  Black Vulture (4)
26.  Turkey Vulture (2)

27.  Northern Harrier (1)
28.  Red-shouldered Hawk (1)
29.  American Kestrel (3)
30.  Eastern Phoebe (1)
31.  Couch's Kingbird (3)
32.  Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
33.  House Wren (1)
34.  Gray Catbird (1)
35.  Northern Mockingbird (2)
36.  Common Grackle (250)
37.  Great-tailed Grackle (2)
38.  Yellow-rumped Warbler (25)
39.  Northern Cardinal (1)

This was our first time birding, and it was amazing! Our experience with Bob at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge really got my feathers preened to see more birds. 

Roseate Spoonbill at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Great Blue Heron in flight at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Goose Island State Park (Whooping Cranes)

The Big Tree at Goose Island State Park in Texas

Goose Island State Park is a small, beautiful, but oddly-shaped, coastal park located in Rockport, Texas.   Part of the park is on Goose Island, including 44 RV sites (water/electric) that face Aransas Bay, fishing pier, and kayak launch station where visitors can rent from a self-serve kayak station.   Another part of the park is located on the mainland, which features a picnic area located by a native plant and butterfly attraction area and a 1.1-mile hiking and birdwatching trail (Turks Cap Loop) nestled between another 57 RV campsites.   A final part of the park is located just along State Park Road 13 as it goes north along Palmetto Street and then east to one of the main attractions, the Big Tree.

Spoiler alert: The area near the Big Tree is the BIG and BEST THING to do at Goose Island State Park.

The Big Tree is a massive live oak tree that is over 1,000 years old and with a circumference of over 35 feet and height of over 45 feet, the tree is the largest of its kind in the state of Texas.  The tree is a designated Texas State Champion and is a popular spot for visitors to take pictures and admire its grandeur.  Although the Big Tree is part of the state park, visitors don’t have to pay the $5/person admission fee to the park to see it. 

Perhaps the best part of Goose Island State Park wasn’t actually in the state part itself.  Just across from the Big Tree (between State Park Road 13 and 8th Street) is a pond where six whooping cranes made their home.  If there was anything that fed my birding interest, seeing one of these rare creatures in person was it!   According to The Cornell Lab:

Whooping Cranes near Goose Island State Park in Texas

In 1941 there were only 21 Whooping Cranes left: 15 were migrants between Canada and Texas while the rest lived year-round in Louisiana. The Louisiana population went extinct, and all 600 of today’s Whooping Cranes (about 440 in the wild and 160 in captivity) are descended from the small flock that breeds in Texas.

The whooping cranes strutted about in two groups of three, completely oblivious the human onlookers, two dozen cattle, throngs of redwing blackbirds, and pair of sandhill cranes nearby.  Hearing the “whoop” was a true bucket list experience.

Let me just give a WHOOP! WHOOP! for Goose Island State Park!

Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center

Birding at the Leona Bell Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas, Texas. There were dozens of American White Pelicans!

The Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas also ranks high on our birding list. The place is really a series of boardwalks and trails; there are not any buildings on site, and a public restroom is located just across the street. 

The birding center offers a variety of programs and activities for visitors of all ages, including bird watching tours, bird identification classes, and conservation workshops. We took advantage of a 9 am bird watching tour, and spent about three hours at the center. 

Wilson’s Snipe at the Leona Bell Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas

Thanks to our experiences at the Aransas National Wildlife Preserve and Goose Island State Park, we were now getting serious about birding.   By the time we visited the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, we each had a pair of 20x binoculars and had download a couple of birding mobile apps to help us identify and track bird species:  eBird and Merlin – both of which were created by Cornell Labs.  At the center, we spotted 30+ different shore birds, including the largest flock of pelicans I’ve ever seen in my life!   Our birding guide also spotted a couple of whooping cranes with his huge telescope in the far distance!

When our birding guide pointed to a “Wilson’s Snipe,” we both thought he was joking.  For us, a “snipe hunt” was all about being duped into trying to find a non-existent animal called a snipe.  But it turns out that there is a family of birds called snipes!

Other Birding Locations Near Rockport Texas

Our birding adventures took us to Corpus Christi for a day, where we first visited the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve.   Our 9 am “Winter Birding 101” tour included several talkative Boy Scouts so we ultimately left the large group and explored the preserve on our own.   We didn’t have the best luck and saw only a handful of common shore birds.

We drove a short distance to the Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge, which also backs up to Oso Bay in Corpus Christi.  We took a the 1-mile nature trail and 800-foot boardwalk for good views of Oso Bay, grassy marshes, woodlands and mudflats.   While the signs there looked promising, we didn’t spot many birds.

Our big birding find that day was a pair of yellow crowned night herons at the Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge.

Where to Drink Beer Near Rockport

Dog’Gone Brewery

Dog’Gone Brewery in Rockport Texas - BINGO!

Rockport is a sleepy coastal town, but there is one craft brewery that people wake up for, especially on Thursday.  Once a week, the Dog'Gone Brewery is packed with tourists and locals for BINGO.  Two BINGO cards cost $15, but that also comes with two drink tokens.  The brewery serves a number of house craft beers (try the Chester’s Coffee stout) and wines since the location also doubles as Winery on the Bay. 

The brewery/winery supports a number of local pet rescues, and dogs are abundant both inside and outside the venue.  That’s another reason to sing “B-I-N-G-O….and BINGO was his name-o.”

Nueces Brewing 

Horchata Beeronga at Nueces Brewing Company with Cinnamon-Sugar Rim

Take a 25-minute drive to Corpus Christi to check out Nueces Brewing and also sample some of the brewery’s amazing barbeque!   The BBQ brisket taco had generous helpings of meat and other goodness.

As far as beers go, we both fell in love with the Horchata Beeronga – a sweet vanilla cinnamon blonde with a cinnamon-sugar rim.   We even bought growler to take home, which we opened a few weeks later in celebration of the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs Superbowl win. The Horchata Beergona tasted even better with that victory.

There’s a huge taproom and outdoor space at Nueces so the brewery is a great place for gatherings with friends. 

How to Travel: The Port Aransas Ferry

As someone who grew up in land-locked Kansas, I find the whole concept of traveling by ferry quite fascinating.  During our stay in Rockport Texas, we wanted to visit nearby Port Aransas located in Mustang Island to see the beaches and do some more birding.  While we could get to Mustang Island by traveling south to Corpus Christi and the over the JFK Causeway, a much more direct and quicker route involved taking Highway 361 until it terminated to a short 10-minute quarter-mile ferry ride.  Today, the ferry is one of the main ways for residents and vehicles to travel between Mustang Island and the mainland. 

Kasie got a little seasick on the Port Aransas Ferry

Warning: Sitting in a car on a ferry ride can feel odd because you are moving but the car isn’t. Just ask Kasie, who I teased about feeling a little seasick.

One of the best things about the Port Aransas ferry ride is that it is free. The first commercial ferry dates back to 1911.  By the 1950s, Neuces County took over the ferry operations, and then when the Texas Department of Transportation assumed ownership of the ferry system in 1968, it eliminated all tolls. 

Today, the ferry is a modern, efficient way to cross the ship channel.  The ferry ride usually takes about 10-15 minutes but delays up to an hour can occur in the case of channel dredging, fog, or other inclement weather.  The Texas DOT twitter feed is a great way to check for delays. 

The port runs between 2-6 ferries at a time, each of which can accommodate up to regular 20 vehicles at a time.  There are size and weight limitations, but we saw several RVs, including our a Jayco Seneca (the “twin sister” to our Entegra Accolade) on board.   Pedestrians and bikers can also ride the ferry. 

I wondered why the state didn’t just build a causeway or bridge because Texas spends millions of dollars each year on ferry operations.   Because the distance to Port Aransas is so small, only a draw bridge would work because of the height needed to provide clearance to the large ships passing through the channel. 

Because yhe Port Aransas ferry ride is so short and the waterways are fairly busy, there isn’t much to see or do on the ferry ride other than maybe gawk at a few pelicans or other shore birds.  A much more entertaining ferry ride is the Galveston-Port Bolivar ferry just a few hours to the north, where we saw dolphins an great views of the ports and island.     

Take a Day Trip to Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi is only about a half-hour from Rockport so we decided to take a few day trips to the big city. Corpus Christi is probably best known for its great beaches. We aren’t really “beach people” so we decided to check out some other things to do there.

#1: Visit the Home of the Whataburger

Kasie enjoys a Whataburger outside of the replica of the original Whataburger Shack in Corpus Christi

Say WHAT?  One of my favorite fast food restaurants – Whataburger -- was launched in Corpus Christi, Texas by Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton.   Back in 1950, Dobson wanted the business to feature a big burger unlike any other on the market:  ¼ pound of fresh beef, fresh lettuce, three slices of tomato, four dill pickles, chopped onions, mustard, and catsup – all on a specially commissioned 5” bun.  The thing would be so big that it would take two hands to hold, and so good that after biting into it, the customer would explain “What a burger!”

Within a year, the partnership would end when Dobson wanted to raise the price of the hamburger to thirty cents and Burton did not.   Burton got the franchise rights to San Antonio, and Dobson would have the rights to everything else.  In 2001, the 77th Texas Legislature officially designated Whataburger as a "Texas Treasure."  Today, there are over 850 Whataburgers throughout the South and Midwest.

The original Whataburger shack where this famous burger got started is is gone, but there’s a replica located at the 4126 S Staples Street location in Corpus Christi.  We just had to check it out….

Replica of the original Whataburger stand in Corpus Christi

Fun Facts about Whataburger:

1. The first neon sign flash in four stages: What…A…Burger…Whataburger.

2. Whataburger founder Harmon Dobson was an avid pilot, and his aviation experiences inspired the orange-and-white A-frame building, which was first used at Whataburger #24 in Odessa Texas in 1961.

3. Astronauts were sent Whataburger cookies on Space Shuttle Columbia.

4. There’s a What-A-Burger chain of burger joints in Virginia and the South Carolina are not related to the Whataburger franchise.  After a trademark dispute, the two entities entered into a co-existence agreement. 

5. Whataburger was the first fast food restaurant to sell a ¼-pound burger. 

6. Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes co-owns several Whataburger franchises.   That’s who turned me on to the chain. #chiefs #superbowlchampions

#2: Hop Aboard the USS Lexington

The USS Lexington is hard to miss.  From Highway 181, visitors can see the hulking ship with about 20 aircraft aboard on the flight deck.   Since 1992, the USS Lexington Museum has been a popular tourist destination, attracting over 200,000 visitors annually. The museum offers guided tours of the ship, as well as exhibits and displays that showcase the ship's history and the technology used during its service. It’s the #1 Thing to Do in the Corpus Christi area on Trip Advisor.

8 Fun Facts About the USS Lexington

1. The USS Lexington (CV-16) should probably be known as Lexi VII it was the seventh US navy ship to be named in honor of the Battle of Lexington (at least according to wiki).

2. The USS Lexington (CV-16) was originally named Cabot, but was renamed after another USS Lexington (CV-2) was sunk during the Battle of Coral Sea in 1942.

3. The USS Lexington was commissioned in 1943 and served in World War II, participating in several key battles in the Pacific, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where the ship was hit by a Japanese Kamikaze.  The strike killed around 50 crew members and injured at least 130 more, but due to Damage Control's heroic firefighters and crew, major blazes were under control and normal flight actions resumed within 20 minutes.

4. The USS Lexington was affectionately known as the "Blue Ghost" by the Japanese because it was believed to have been sunk multiple times but always seemed to reappear.

5. The USS Lexington was involved in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot," which was a major victory for the U.S. Navy and marked the end of Japan's ability to launch large-scale carrier attacks.

6. The USS Lexington became the first aircraft carrier in United States naval history to have women crew members in 1980.

7. The USS Lexington can hold enough gas to drive a car around the world 132 times.

8. The USS Lexington weighs 33,000 tons, has 16 decks, and a flight deck of more than 2 acres.

Touring the USS Lexington Museum

Visitors to the USS Lexington can go on five different self-guided tours: (1) Flight Deck tour, (2) Foc’sle Tour, (3) Gallery Deck Tour, (4) Lower Deck Tour, and (5) Hangar Deck Tour.  There’s a 3D theatre and restrooms located on the Hanger Deck.

The museum’s signs do a great job showing visitors the route for teach tour.  Most of the tours wind through parts of the ship, and it is easy to lose all sense of direction.   In addition, visitors must climb LOTS of narrow steep stairs and hurdle the bottom of the oval openings between ship compartments.  Except for the Flight Deck and Hanger Deck areas, the ship is not wheelchair accessible. 

Of the five tours, the Lower Deck Tour was by far my favorite.  With the galley, dental clinic, sick bay, chapel, and other rooms, we really got a feel for how the crew lived on board the ship.   My other favorite part of the tour was the flight deck, where about 20 planes on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation are on display.  The flight deck can hold 90 aircraft, but standing on the flight deck really gave me perspective about the size of the USS Lexington.  It’s 872 feet long, which comparable to most of today’s cruise ships. 

While we enjoyed our tour of the ship, the way the rooms are staged were confusing to us at times:

• First, because the USS Lexington was in service for so long, the rooms are staged with artifacts that span decades.  For example, the Post Office was staged with a letter from the 1940s and more modern “Express Mail” packages.   T

• Second, we really questioned the authenticity of some of the artifacts. For example, Kasie noticed that right across from the ship’s galley (kitchen) area where some mannequins were preparing a Thanksgiving feast of plastic ham, potatoes, and carrots, there was a large dinner menu sign. BUT the sign said that THANKSGIVING on a Sunday April 1, 1945!

USS Lexington Thanksgiving Dinner

USS Lexington Thanksgiving Menue (on a Sunday?)

The technology used in the USS Lexington Museum could also use updating.  The interactive exhibits consist mostly of pushing a button to make a creepy mannequin talk behind some plexiglass.  The antiquated “talking” technology basically consists of a film projected onto the mannequin’s face. 

Despite these critiques, at just $18.95/person, the USS Lexington Museum gives visitors ample things to learn about and experience.   We spent about four hours at the museum and barely made it through all five tours.  While we learned a lot, I’d characterize our visit as “superficial” because didn’t spend much time reading or really digging into the exhibits.  There’s enough information on each tour to easily spend 3-4 hours on a single tour alone for people who are history buffs or navy brats.    Overall, I really enjoyed our visit, and think that it was worth the money.

Wall of Famous Visitors to the USS Lexington

Creepy Mannequin at the USS Lexington Museum

USS Lexington Museum displays

Aircraft and aircraft carrier models at the USS Lexington Museum

Chapel at the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi

15 Tips, Tricks & Lessons: RVing with Dogs

WHY DID WE START RVING back in 2019? As I explained in a prior blog, RVING WAS ALL ABOUT OUR DOGS!

We love to travel. However, we missed those waggly mutts on long road trips, and wanted to take the dogs with us.  Our solution was to buy an RV. Since then, we’ve owned a travel trailer (2019 Coachman Spirit Ultra Lite 2245BH), traditional Class C RV (2019 Jayco Greyhawk 31F), and a Super C RV (2022 Entegra Accolade XL 37L).

Traveling in any RV with dogs raises a lot of issues.  Those issues multiplied when we increased our household to FIVE DOGS (Billie, Sophie, Percy, Earl, and Earlene). Then, we had even more issues to consider when we decided to live in our RV full-time.   We’ve learned a lot along the way and wanted to share some tips for RV life with dogs.  We’ll also share some things we wish we would have known sooner about #RVdoglife.

Let’s get to it:

#1:  How to Fence Those Puppies In — Our Pet Fence System
#2:  How to Deal with the Deuce — Our Pet Waste System
#3:  Safety First — How To Secure the Dogs on Travel Days
#4:  "Pet Friendly" Campgrounds — What Does that Mean?
#5:  Keep it Cool — Invest in a Pet Temperature Monitor
#6:  Spy On Your Dogs With Security Cameras
#7: Turn it up to 11! — With a Noise Machine or White Noise Mobile App
#8: Treat Yo Self (or at Least Your Dogs)
#9: Suck It Up! — Buy a Lighted Vacuum
#10: Blow it Off — At Least the Dog Hair
#11: Towel Off — Our "Dog Towel" System
#12: Play Tag — Microchips, Pet Tags, & Pet Collars
#13: Take As Needed — Including Dog Medications
#14: Keep Vaccination Records
#15: Walk it Off — Lessons on Dog Walking

Tip #1: Fence Those Puppies In — Our Pet Fence System

A dog fence around the RV door makes life much easier when RVing with dogs.   We have a couple of “runners” in the family so finding a way to corral the herd outside was a no-brainer for us.   The pet fence comes in handy when we are leaving the RV and the dogs want to go along with us but can’t.  The pet fence is also nice when we just want to spend time outside with the entire crew. The best part of the enclosure is that it allows for a quick potty break without the necessity of leashing everyone up.

Pet fences are constructed in many different ways.  We tried a very heavy duty metal fence at first, but that was cumbersome to haul around.  Our current pet fence system includes three lightweight 16-foot foldable wire fences (each of which includes 8 foldable 2-foot panels that are 30” high) that we link together to make a pet enclosure with an area of about 150 square feet.   We position the panels in a stretched accordion manner so that they stand upright without any stakes. 

Our RV pet fence system contains our dogs while we relax at the RV

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One problem is that the metal pet fence is too tall such that the panels won’t fit underneath the RV door.   In that area, we’ve custom-cut a couple of sections of plastic lattice that fit snuggly underneath and around the RV door. The plastic lattice is fastened to the wire pet fence with carabiners and/or velcro. 

Plastic lattice can be purchased at many hardware stores, such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Menards. In terms of constructing the pet fence, a few things are worth noting:

• While the plastic lattice comes in 8-foot sections, we found that using two 4-foot sections makes storage and setup easier.

• The plastic lattice is less likely to scratch the RV compared to the wire fence. Therefore, we orient the plastic lattice so that it is the only part of the fence system that touches the RV.

• We cut and position the lattice so that it extends a few feet away from the RV door. In turn, the wire fence also starts a few feet away from the door as well. We found out the hard way that if the lattice was cut shorter, Billie could just jump over the wire fence while standing on the steps.

Lattice sections are fastened together with velcro or caribiners in our RV pet fence system

Cuts in the lattice used by the door of our RV pet fence system

Lattice of our pet fence system is attached to the wire fence with carabiners.

Caution: It's important to check an RV park’s rules and regulations on pet fences.  Some campgrounds don’t permit them at all.  Other campgrounds prohibit placement on any grassy area.  Still, other RV parks specify that pet fences are okay as long as there are no stakes in the ground. 

Another important thing to note is a pet fence is not the same thing as a fenced-in yard that comes with many sticks-and-bricks homes.   We never leave our dogs unattended outside, and the pet fence is no substitute for walking the dogs frequently.

Tip #2: Dealing with the Deuce — Our Pet Waste System

Tip #2 on our list is about #2.

Rant Alert: One of the first things we learned when we started RVing is that there are some RVers who just leave pet waste on the ground.  If you are one of those people, please stop it.  No one likes to see dog poo, smell dog poo, or step in dog poo.  And, as gross as this is to say, some dogs like to eat dog poo and have an uncanny knack for sniffing out those brown logs.  No one wants a dog with poop breath so pick up after your dog.   Rant over. 

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While our dogs are #1 in our lives, they also have to go #2….A LOT.

We purchase poop bags in bulk and go through multiple poop bags each day.   While many campgrounds offer disposal sites for pet waste, many don’t.  Therefore, an RVer needs to come up with a way to dispose of the bagged pet waste.  I suppose that a pet owner could somehow place the pet waste in RV’s toilet (but then what do you do with the poopy bag?).  Alternatively, the bagged pet waste could simply be placed in the RV’s trash.  But with five dogs, our experience is that the trash starts to get really stinky really quickly.   The bottom line is that we don’t want to dispose of the pet waste inside the RV.  And, walking to the campground’s trash area 2-3 times per day to get rid of the pet waste is inconvenient. 

Our solution?  We place a small bucket outside where we place the filled bags of pet waste until we combine that with our regular trash on trash days.  One of these days, we will get crafty and decorate that bucket.

Caution: Try to remember to place the bucket underneath the RV when the forecast shows rain. Otherwise, you are likely to end up with some poo water in your bucket. Yuck!

Tip #3: Safety First — How To Secure the Dogs on Travel Days

Remember Tooces the driving cat from Saturday Night Live? Hilariously stupid.

As much as our dogs would all like to drive the RV or be on my lap on travel day, that probably isn’t a good idea.  So what do we do with the four-legged family on travel day?  

Pet crates are an obvious solution.  We crate two of our dogs (Earl and Earlene) in a wire crate that fits snuggly beneath our dinette.  The pet crate is wedged so that it is unlikely to move in the event of an accident or sudden stop. 

For the other dogs, we insert a seat belt adaptor into one of the seat belts on the RV’s dinette.  The adaptor has a clip on the end that is fastened to each dog’s harness.  We also place a dog bed next to the dinette so that it should provide a cushion in the event of an accident or sudden stop.

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Tip #4: “Pet-Friendly” Campgrounds — What does that mean?

Many RV parks boast that they are “pet friendly,” but I’ve learned to read the fine print.  Some “pet friendly” campgrounds don’t allow certain breeds of dogs or cap the number of dogs (usually two dogs per site).  As noted above, some RV parks don’t allow pet fences either.

The biggest issue for us has been the two-pet per site limit.   I’ve never understood that rule.   Most campgrounds don’t limit the number of people at a site.   Yet, if someone has three 12-pound chihuahuas, that’s a problem?  

We try to do our research before heading to a new RV park.   Most RV parks post their rules and regulations on their website so I always begin our search for an RV park by reviewing the “pet rules” at any campground.

On a couple of occasions, we’ve just knowingly broken the two-pet limit rule because we couldn’t find any other place to stay in the area.  If we are just staying a night or two, we adopt a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy. If we are staying a week or more, we’ve usually just fessed up to the management AFTER we check in. Showing the management a photo of the dogs and letting the management know that our dogs weigh less than 60 pounds all TOGETHER certainly helps.  

We’ve never been kicked out of an RV park, and hope we never will be. 

Campgrounds also differ dramatically in terms of a good place to walk the dogs. Some have large fenced in areas similar to a true dog park; other RV parks have might have trails that are separate from the main roads in the RV park. We look for those “amenities” when selecting any RV park. While not always possible, we prefer campgrounds that are not adjacent to busy highways…just in case one of the dogs might get loose. Google maps is a great way get an actual bird’s eye view of what to expect at a campground.

Tip #5: Keep it Cool — Invest in a Pet Temperature Monitor

As much as we would like to take five dogs with us when we explore an area, that isn’t practical. Without properly functioning air conditioners, the temperatures inside an RV can quickly reach over 100 degrees in a very quick timeframe.   Our Entegra Accolade has an auto gen-start (AGS) feature that starts our generator if certain pre-set parameters are reached.  If the AGS kicked on, we would want to IMMEDIATELY know if there is an issue with the temperature though.  We invested in a RV pet monitor device for that reason.

We own and use two RV pet monitor devices:  the Govee WiFi Thermometer Hygrometer H505 (which is wi-fi based) and the MarCELL PRO (which is cellular-based) as I wrote in detail about here.   As explained in the video, they each work a little differently, which we learned the hard way down in hot hot hot Oklahoma City.

With our two pet monitoring systems, we get a notification every time the power goes out and also get an alert if the predetermined temperatures or humidity levels are exceeded.  We can also just get real-time temperature data. Knowing that our dogs are safe gives us great peace of mind. 

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MarCELL PRO Cellular Monitoring System (Verizon) Buy on Amazon

Tip #6: Spy on Your Dogs with Security Cameras

Have you ever wondered what your dogs are doing while you are away from the RV?  Are they sleeping?  Pacing?  Barking? Crying?  Having a party? We wondered as well.

We’ve placed several Reolink security cameras throughout the RV.  We can watch and even talk to the dogs using the Reolink mobile app — as long as there is a good WiFi signal at the RV.   One of our dogs will sometimes exhibit really bad separation anxiety, and it is nice to be able to check on him to see if he is panting, pacing, or stressed.

These security cameras are also good for security as well (duh!). We can set them to record upon motion detection, and we have a couple of them placed so that they will detect humans in the RV but don’t go off when the dogs move.

Sometimes it’s also just fun to spy on other people in the RV. Here’s a screenshot of me spying on myself and four of the dogs as I write this blog. As you can see, the camera is pretty good!

Reolink Screenshot of our RV. Earlene is on my lap, Billie is across from me, Percy is on the sofa, and Earl is on the ottoman.

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Tip #7: Turn it Up to 11! ... with a Noise Machine or White Noise Mobile App

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Every dog is born with the instinct to bark in response to a potential threat.   Ours are no different.   When we are with them, we can usually control their behavior.   But what do we do when we are away from the RV to control their barking or howling?   We turn it up to 11!

More specifically, we’ve found that turning an ambient noise machine often helps. That noise will help mask a neighboring camper or another dog barking in the distance.  This noise also helps sooth Percy to assist him with his separation anxiety.

We also sleep with the ambient noise machine on so the dogs are used to hearing that at bedtime. I think that helps the dogs think that the noise isn’t just a signal that we are going to leave the RV so that they don’t get worked up when they hear it.

Pro Tip: Several free ambient noise mobile apps are available on the iOS and GooglePlay store. If you have an old phone that you aren’t using an can leave at the RV, you can download one of the white noise mobile apps and see if that works.

We’ve also found that leaving the television on while we are away from the RV on can also help keep the quieter.  Billie really likes the cartoon Spanish channels 😊.

Tip #8: Treat Yo Self (or at least Your Dogs)

Let’s face it, an RV is a VERY SMALL SPACE.   As much as we love our dogs, there are times that we don’t want to interact with them.  This has been the biggest issue when trying to work out in the RV.  To our dogs, a sit-up is interpreted as playtime.   Those windmills look like a game of “gitcha.”  We cannot really escape the dogs by going to separate “gym” room so what do we do?  Distract them. 

There’s probably no better distraction that a dog’s favorite treat or something savory to gnaw on.  Our preferred distraction are yak treats.  Yak chews are also known as "himalayan dog chews" and can be thought of as cheese for dogs.  The chews are generally made of yak milk, cow milk, and lime juice that have been hardened into a long-lasting treat.   Although yak treats aren’t cheap, they’ve worked for us!

We’ve also had moderate success with food puzzles like the one we have below or Kongs to keep the dogs busy.  Unless each one of dog’s has their own toy, they tend to fight over them though. The yak treats just seem to work better for us.

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Tip #9: Suck it Up — Buy a Lighted Vacuum

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Dirt.  Sand.  Hair.  With two humans and five dogs, all of that filth accumulates rather quickly.   When we lived in a sticks-and-bricks home, we vacuumed once every couple of weeks.  In the RV, all of that dirt and debris is now in a space about 1/10th of the size of our prior home.   We quickly learned that in the RV, we now vacuum daily…sometimes twice a day.

There are lots of vacuums on the market, but we really like the Laresar that has a light to show all stuff on the floor.  The vacuum is lightweight, and it is also every easy to clean out (which we do EACH DAY).   I like this vacuum so much that I even bought one for my mother (and she loves it as well!).

Pro tip:  In our opinion, the best way to vacuum (in the RV or otherwise) is in the dark because the vacuum light will make the dirt and hair much easier to see. If you don’t have a vacuum with a light on the end, just take a flashlight and place it on the floor with the lights off. You will be surprised what you see!  

Tip #10: Blow it Off — At Least the Dog Hair

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A lot of dog hair and other stuff gets trapped underneath our slides.  It’s like a reservoir of never-ending filth!  We’ve tried using Swiffer-like products with little success.  Instead, to clean underneath the slides, we get out our battery-operated Ryobi leaf blower. 

Using an outdoor leaf blower inside isn’t as easy as you might think, but we’ve developed a good technique. I usually start at one end of the slide with the blower on a low setting (for our Ryobi blower, that means pushing the trigger only about half-way in) and gradually push all of the debris to the other end.  Meanwhile, Kasie will lift the rubber seal at that second end so that the debris will ultimately be blown outside of the RV.  We then repeat the process with the blower on a higher setting (the trigger is fully engaged) for another cleaning.   

We typically always use this blower method on travel days to make sure that dog bones or toys are not inadvertently trapped underneath the slide.  While we do checks with a flashlight first, the blower did dislodge a Nylabone from underneath the slide that we visually missed on at least one occasion.   

Tip #11: Towel Off! – Our “Dog Towel” System

Billie gets her morning massage with one of our dog towels

Did we mention how much dirt our dogs track into the RV?  The problem grows exponentially when it is rainy out or there’s dew on the grass.  Our longer haired dogs in particular are notorious for gathering mud or sand on their fur and then tracking that inside.  

We have a drawer near the RV door devoted to what we call “dog towels.”  These are old towels that no longer use for ourselves.  Instead, we use the dog towels for drying off the dogs, soaking up urine accidents, dabbing up other spills in the RV, and cleaning generally.  However, I secretly think that our shih tzu Billie gets dirty on her outdoor walks just so that she can get her dog towel massage every morning.

I know the idea of packing dedicated cleaning towels or rags (our “dog towels”) in the RV may be obvious to some people.   But sometimes people forget this on their RV trip packing list.   

Tip #12: Play Tag — Microchip, Pet Tags and Pet Collars

Having a pet run away is a horrific experience.   Losing one when on the road in a strange area just makes things worse.   Microchips, collars, and dog tags with contact information are easy ways to ensure that a lost pet can be found. 

All of our dogs are rescues and were microchipped as part of their adoption process.   It’s always good to make sure the microchip works and contact information is up-to-date.   Most veterinarians or pet rescue groups have devices that can read RFID microchips so the next time you are there, think about having the vet check the information.

Tip #13: “Take As Needed” — Including Dog Medications

Our dog Billie gets motion sick during when traveling so it is good to give her a dose of dramamine before every trip.  Our dog Percy is diabetic and requires insulin at every meal.   All of the dogs get monthly heartworm medicine.  In the summer, they all get flea and tick medicine.  Suffice it to say, we travel with a lot of dog medications. 

Many state laws require that a vet see a pet in person before they can write a prescription for a pet. (For details, check out https://televet.com/vcpr).  I bring this up only because folks should be aware that if pet medications are needed on the road, it may be difficult finding a local vet with appointment availability.   We learned that the hard way and now try to stock up on all medications during our annual visits to the vet.

Tip #14: Keep Vaccination Records

Most people have access to their electronic medical records. But what about vet records? Most veterinarians don’t have an EMR system. We brought paper copies of all of our vet records with us in the RV.

While some campgrounds require every pet to be vaccinated, some RV Parks reportedly require RVers to provide proof of vaccination.  (We have never encountered that).  Regardless, it’s handy to have a copy of your pet’s vaccination records on hand.  We have paper copies, as well as a photo of each vaccination record, for all five dogs that we can access from our phones.

A Cautionary Tail:

For what it’s worth, one thing that we DON’T LIKE about being on the road with dogs are the veterinarian options. Prior deciding to live full-time in our RV, we lived in Columbia Missouri, where we had a wonderful local vet and the University of Missouri’s Veterinary Health Center, a teaching hospital with specialists in everything from oncology to opthalmology. Frankly, we were probably spoiled with such great pet care options.

We learned the hard way that having a pet get sick on the road is tough. When we were in Tucson for a couple of months in 2021, our boy Brodie got very sick. We called nearly a dozen vets before finding an urgent care clinic who would even see him. Keep in mind that this was during covid-19 and the pet hospitals were understaffed and overwhelmed just like the human hospitals. Ultimately, the urgent care vet (“Dr. O”) was able to diagnose Brodie quickly and find us an emergency surgeon in a Phoenix suburb for some major surgery. Dr. O then continued give Brodie competent and compassionate care for several weeks after his surgery. While having a sick dog is stressful enough, having a sick dog on the road where we didn’t know really know where to find good vet is even harder. We chronical sweet Brodie’s journey and our own struggles in the video above. (This was by far the toughest video I’ve ever made, and it’s a tear-jerker).

We would love your feedback on national vet chains. We’ve talked about having our dogs go to a national chain like PetsMart for their healthcare. While that would certainly help centralize their vet records and make routine services like vaccinations easier, we haven’t yet done that. If you have experience with PetsMart or similar chains, we’d love to hear about them, especially as it relates to emergencies and non-routine care.

Tip #15: Walk it Off — Lessons on Dog Walking

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but full-time RVers have to walk their dogs A LOT.  We don’t have the luxury of a fenced-in yard where we can easily just dump them for their dumps.  While walking the dogs is usually enjoyable and relaxing, the truth is that sometimes walking the dogs is a pain.  In particular:

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• Dog Walking is Time-Consuming

  Keep in mind that with five dogs, a dog walk session usually takes about half of an hour. That’s and 1-2 hours each day that we spend walking the dogs.  On some days, it just seems like a grinding commute.

• Dog Walking Can Be Loud

  Our dogs like to bark at other barking dogs and sometimes other people.  It’s embarrassing at times because we don’t want to be “those people” with annoying dogs.  Three things usually help: (1) training treats to try to redirect their barking behavior to the treats, (2) bark collars on the barking “instigators”; and (3) walking the dogs in two groups (Percy and Earlene get walked together; Earl, Billie , and Sophie get walked together).  

• Dog Walking Can Be Uncomfortable

  Another challenge is the weather.  We don’t just go on dog walks when it’s nice outside like we did in our sticks-and-bricks home. We now have to walk the dogs in all sorts of crappy weather. Stifling heat.  Pouring rain.  Frostbiting wind.  And occasionally ice and snow.  We’ve walked the dogs through all of that.  

• Pet Waste Clean-Up Never Ends

  Picking up pet waste is just gross.  When we had a sticks-and-bricks home, we had a large fenced-in yard.   That meant that we could pick up pet waste about once every couple of weeks.  As full time RVers, that chore is now one we on do 2-3 times a day on every walk.  It just seems like the poo clean-up is a full-time job.    

• Carry a Good Flash-Light  

  Neither one of us are night owls, but occasionally we don’t get back to the RV until after dark. We have a couple of lightweight Ryobi flashlights that we use to make dog walking easier at night. However, walking the dogs in an unfamiliar RV park and clean up by flashlight isn’t always easy.

Concluding Thoughts

Our dogs are the reason why we started RVing. However, those pups are a lot of work, and living with them in a small space on the road comes with challenges and adjustments. I hope these tips help you with your four-legged family. If you have other tips or tricks, feel free to leave them in the comments or send me an email at classcbroads@gmail.com.

DISCLAIMERS: PLEASE DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR RIG! We are NOT affiliated with any of these manufacturers and just want to share our experiences about the products and project in this blog. We do get a very small commission at no cost to you if you use one of the Amazon Links (a/k/a beer money).

Space Center Houston - What to Expect

Thinking about going to Space Center Houston?

In this blog, I’ll cover expect and what you need to know.

Table of Contents:

1. Space Center Houston and Me: 1993 vs Today

2. Preparing to Visit Space Center Houston

3. Highlights of Space Center Houston

   • The Spacesuits

   • NASA's Timeline

   • Starship Gallery

   • Outdoor Attractions

   • Tram Tours

   • The Future of Space Travel

4. Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston

5. Concluding Thoughts: Should You Go?

SPACE CENTER HOUSTON AND ME

Space Center Houston! Bucket List alert!

Star Wars vs. Star Trek.

Battlestar Galactica vs. Buck Rogers.  

If you grew up in the 1970s like me, you know those are worthy debates.   It was hard not to be fascinated with space exploration as a kid and as a young adult.   I remember the moment the Challenger exploded in 1986, and waited anxiously as Tom Hanks said “Houston, we have a problem” in Apollo 13.  There’s no debate that for me and many folks in my generation, Space Center Houston is an obvious “bucket list” destination.

This wasn’t my first rodeo in Houston though.   I first visited Space Center Houston in 1993 and remember falling in love with it then during a short visit. My scrapbook from that year contains my admission ticket ($9.95), a few photos (including one of me in a space helmet), and a receipt for an Astronaut Ice Cream Sandwich ($2.50) and a NASA navy koozie ($1.95).  I paid for everything with cash, btw.

Space Center Houston - my 1993 scrapbook shows that admission was $9.95

More of my 1993 scrapbook, which included a trip to Space Center Houston

PREPARING TO VISIT SPACE CENTER HOUSTON

Today, the price of admission to Space Center Houston has tripled ($29.95), and pretty much everything can be booked online.  The place is always ranked high on most “THINGS TO DO” lists (it’s #1 on TripAdvisor). We planned to spend nearly the entire day at Space Center Houston on a weekday in December, hoping to avoid the crowds.

We downloaded the Space Center Houston mobile app ahead of time.  During our thirty-minute drive to the center, I read through some of the mobile app content aloud to Kasie so that we would know more about what to expect in advance.   We arrived right when the center opened at 10:00 am, and quickly got in the “virtual line” for one of the tram tours.  The tram tours take visitors away from the museum and off-site to other NASA buildings. At the time of our visit, there were two tram tours available:  one tram tour took visitors to the historic NASA Mission Control building and another tram tour took visitors to the Astronaut Training Facility and to Rocket Park (more on both below).    

Pro Tip:  Tram Tours fill up quickly.  Visitors must be physically present at Space Center Houston to get in  the “virtual line” for a tram tour.  I recommend getting in line as soon as you arrive at the center.  

According to the website, Space Center Houston is home to “over 400 space artifacts, permanent and traveling exhibits, exhibits and experiences and theaters related to the exciting future and remarkable past of America’s human space-flight program.”  Even if someone spends seven hours (420 minutes) at the center, that’s only about one minute for each thing. A visitor cannot possibly see everything in a single day, and it is hard not to get overwhelmed with the vast amount of information in the place.  Thus, I’m going to try to hit the highlights on things I think visitors won’t want to miss. 

Spoiler Alert: We loved Space Center Houston so much that we went back on another day for the winter evening Galaxy Lights display (cost $29.95/person).

HIGHLIGHTS OF SPACE CENTER HOUSTON

THE SPACESUITS

Like any space museum, there are a number of spacesuits on display, including (1) Pete Conrad’s Apollo 12 spacesuit that he wore to the moon (hello, moondust!), (2) Michael Collin’s Apollo 11 bioisolation garment that he wore during quarantine after the mission, (3) Wally Schirra’s in-flight Apollo 7 coveralls, and (4) John Young’s space suit from the inaugural mission of Space Shuttle Columbia in 1981.  Not surprisingly, my favorites spacesuits were those worn by two women:

• Sally Ride  

  Sally Ride was the first American woman in space.  On display in Space Center Houston’s Astronaut Gallery is a pair of Ride’s in-flight coveralls.  Sally was also the first lesbian in space, although she did not come out during her lifetime. 

• Judith Resnik 

  Judith was the second American woman in space and a fellow 1978 NASA classmate of Sally Ride.  Resnik logged 145 hours in orbit, but died in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.  On display at Space Center Houston is Resnik’s T-38 flight training suit.

Fun “Fact”:  Growing up, I thought that that “Ride Sally Ride” by Al Green had something to do with Sally Ride.  It does not, but I still sing that song when I think of her.

Sally Ride’s in-flight coveralls at Space Center Houston

Judith Resnik’s flight training suit at Space Center Houston

Women were never officially recognized as part of an astronaut training group by NASA until that Class of 1978, even though they helped pave the way into space. Starting in 1960, thirteen American women took part in a privately funded physiological screening tests by William Randolf Lovelace II, which he called the “Women in Space Program.” One of those women, Geraldyn (Jerrie) Cobb, coined the term “Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees" or FLATS for themselves. Several of those women later testified before Congress in hearings about gender discrimination that later lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that made such actions illegal. This group of women was later known as “Mercury 13.”

Fun Fact:  Mary Wallace Funk (a/k/a Wally Funk), one of the women of Mercury 13, became the oldest person to fly in space at the age of 82 in 2021. William Shatner broke her record at age 90 later that same year.

With the Artemis program, NASA also has the goal to land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon's surface sometime in the mid-2020s (more on that below). Suffice it to say that I hope to come back to Space Center Houston some day and see an even greater diversity of spacesuits and astronauts.

NASA’S TIMELINE

If you aren’t up-to-date on NASA history (and have the time), my recommendation is to start in the Starship Gallery’s “Mercury to Apollo” exhibit.  Specifically, start with the large timeline display that chronicles the Mercury (1958-1963), Gemini (1961-1966), and Apollo (1961-1972) Project missions.  Since 1965, the astronaut crews have designed their own patches to wear, and several patches are on display at the bottom of the display.  The display cabinet also houses a number of antiquated artifacts from those early years, including:

• Apollo mission data acquisition camera.  Today’s basic smart phone probably takes better photos than this bulky 15mm camera.  These artifacts remind me just how far technology has come.

• Piece of the Apollo 12 Heat Shield.  Most of the shield burns away because of the extreme heat during reentry.

• Apollo Pressure Garment Boots.  These boots were worn during space walks, and were covered by a thermal protective layer.

• Jim Irwin’s Apollo 15 moonwalk glove.  This glove was actually on the moon!

Fun Fact:  Pete Conrad and Gordon Cooper designed the first NASA patch for the Gemini V Mission (1965), which features a covered wagon with the words “8 Days or Bust.”   The covered wagon represents space being America’s new frontier and eight days referred to the time needed for a trip to the moon and back.

STARSHIP GALLERY

If you don’t have time for a history lesson (or don’t care about history) and just want to see cool space stuff, the Starship Gallery is also the place to start.  There, visitors can find:

Skylab Training Module at Space Center Houston with creepy mannequin.

• Skylab Training Module

  Although America’s first space station, Skylab, disintegrated as it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere in 1979, the huge Skylab training module is on display at Space Center Houston.  Some really creepy old mannequins depict astronauts Jack Lousma taking a shower and Owen Garriott getting ready to eat some food out of a can.  The mannequins look like they were probably made in the 1970s too.

• Mercury 9 “Faith 7” space capsule 

  Space Center Houston has the actual space capsule that Gordon Cooper flew into space in 1963.  On the 20th orbit around the earth, Cooper had to switch from autopilot to manual control.  He had to make his own calculations to position the vehicle, using his watch and drawing lines on the windows to stay aligned with the star constellation.  NASA double checked his work, and he was able to survive the mission and land safely. 

• Gemini V spacecraft

  Space Center Houston has the actual spacecraft that Pete Conrad and Cordon Cooper manned in 1965 during the “8 Days or Bust” mission. (Note: My understanding is that Conrad and Cooper did not do a spacewalk on this mission though, so this display would appear to depict the first US Astronaut space walk by Ed White during the Gemini 4 mission in June 1965).

• Saturn V Rocket model

  Space Center Houston displays a 1/10 scale model of the Saturn V rocket that helped launch six missions to the moon as well as Skylab from 1967-1963.  (A real Saturn V rocket is on display at Rocket Park, which is accessible by tram. More on that below….)

• Apollo 17 Command Module 

  Space Center Houston has the actual command module carried the final crew of the Apollo Program, which was the last time American astronauts when to the moon.   Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ron Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt were on this mission. 

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Mercury 9 “Faith 7” space capsule

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Gemini V spacecraft

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Saturn V Rocket (1/10 Model)

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Apollo 17 Command Module

• Apollo 17 Lunar Diorama

  This diorama depicts Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Jack Schmitt in space suits on the moon.   The “waving” flag in the diorama is pretty much like the one left on the moon. The astronauts were able to make the American flag wave even though there is no wind on the moon because the astronauts attached a rod across the top of the flag.  Three lunar roving vehicles like the one in the diorama were left at the moon so that the weight of the spacecraft would be equal during its outbound and return trips.  The diorama also includes a lunar surface UV camera, an identical one of which was also left on the moon.

• Apollo-Soyuz Docking Module Trainer 

  In 1975, the US developed a decompression chamber to allow the Russians to come aboard the Apollo in the first ever international mission called Apollo-Soyuz.  At Space Center Houston, there’s a creepy mannequin depicting Tom Stafford reaching out to give the Russians a handshake in the module trainer.  

• Moon Rocks! 

  The center contains a few large moon rocks on display, including Basalt #15555, Lunar Breccia #15498, Lunar Anorthocite #60015, and Lunar Breccia #76015.  These are displayed in a “clean” room filled with inert nitrogen because the earth’s atmosphere would degrade the rocks.  As someone with a chemical engineering background, I got pretty excited about these little rocks! Moon rocks ROCK!

Lunar Diorama at Space Center Houston

Apollo-Soyuz Docking Module Trainer at Space Center Houston

Moon Rocks on Display at Space Center Houston

 Fun Fact:   NASA started using stripes on space suits so that Mission Control could tell the astronauts apart.

OUTDOOR ATTRACTIONS

Located adjacent to main building of Space Center Houston, an outdoor area contained two main exhibits during our visit.

Independence Plaza at Space Center Houston

• Independence Plaza

  Just off the Starship Gallery are some doors that lead to an original NASA 905 aircraft which supports a replica of the Space Shuttle Independence. Visitors can use stairs or an elevator to access the various levels, including the shuttle flight deck and the living quarters. The interior of the NASA 905 aircraft showcases the history and development of the shuttle program, including crazy piggy-backing idea that gave rise to the shuttle program.

• SpaceX Falcon 9

  Walk just a little farther to see a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which is really the future of space travel. This rocket, which was used on two missions back in 2017 was made by Elon Musk’s commercial SpaceX company. This was the first time NASA allowed a reusable rocket stage. The rocket has landing legs that deploy as part of landing…just like in the movies. The second photo below shows the SpaceX Falcon 9 during our second trip to Space Center Houston to see the Galaxy Lights.

SpaceX Falcoln 9 rocket at Space Center Houston

SpaceX Falcoln 9 Rocket during the Galaxy Lights display

TRAM TOURS

Space Center Houston offers tram tours to explore a few more parts of the NASA complex.  Depending on the time of year and how busy it is, there will be two or three different trams running to take visitors to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.  During our visit, there were only two trams running (the blue tram and white tram).  These trams will take visitors to:   

Mission Control at Space Center Houston

• Mission Control Building Tram Tour

  As the flight control room for Apollo 11 and the first moon landing, the room was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1985.  Visitors are invited to sit in seats where the families of crew members and press watched the missions, complete with gray ashtrays on the back of the seats. Furnishings on the mission control consoles include various notebooks, manuals, pens, maps, headsets, and of course ashtrays!  Everything from the wallpaper to the ceiling tiles also look authentic.   The presentation largely consists of an audio-visual reenactment of the moon landing just like the families would have seen it real time.  Large projection screens depict the lunar module’s flight path and position of the astronauts themselves.   I got goose bumps when you hear Neil Armstrong declare “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” 

  Pro Tip: If you only have time for one tram tour, do the one to Mission Control!

• Astronaut Training Facility Tram Tour

  Visitors look through a large plexiglass window onto a huge room filled with all sorts of equipment, prototypes, experiments and who knows what.  During our visit, we a handful of scientists working on different projects, including Valkyrie, NASA’s next generation of humanoid robot also known as R5. Yes, we saw ROBOTS! That was super cool, but do you know what was even cooler? Seeing what appeared to be a STORMTROOPER helmet in the astronaut training facility. Let the conspiracy theories begin, folks!

Scientists work on a humanoid robot known as R5 at the NASA Astronaut Training Facility

NASA scientist works in the Astronaut Training Facility. But is that a STORMTROOPER helmet nearby?

• Rocket Park Tram Tour 

  A huge building with an outline of the Saturn V rocket painted on its exterior tells visitors exactly what to expect inside.  However, seeing the massive Saturn V rocket up close gives visitors an out-of-this-world perspective.  This rocket is nearly identical to one of the 13 rockets launched into space to help reach the moon.   There are two rockets outside of the building:  (1) Little Joe II (1963-1955), which was used to test the Apollo/Saturn V launch escape system and isn’t so “little” and (2) Mercury-Redstone (1960-1961), which was used to propel the first American astronauts into space.

Saturn V Rocket on the tram tour at Space Center Houston (left) and the building during the day and during Galaxy Lights (right)

Little Joe II and Mercury-Redstone Rockets at Rocket Park (Space Center Houston tram tour)

Pro Tip:  Watch out for an alligator in small ditch next to the tram tour loading area. We saw him and later learned that his name was MECO!

THE FUTURE OF SPACE TRAVEL

Several sections of Space Center Houston highlight the future of space exploration.  These sections include:

•  International Space Station  

  The ISS is in both NASA’s past, present, and future.  Operational since 2000, ISS has hosted astronauts and research conducted by the United States, Russia, Europe, and Canada.  There are some interesting displays showing the toilet, sleeping quarters, and weightless gym used by ISS astronauts.

International Space Station exhibit at Space Center Houston

Space Toilet, Astronaut Sleep Station, and Weightless Gym on the International Space Station

Artemis Mission exhibits at Space Center Houston

• Project Artemis

  Space Center Houston includes a number of brightly lit panels that explain how NASA plans to return humans to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years as part of its Artemis missions. This time, NASA’s plan is to land at the South Pole of the moon (X marks the spot!).  

  One objective of the Artemis Project is to make sure that a woman and person of color land on the lunar surface. If I were a young girl visiting Space Center Houston today, it would be hard not to picture myself as a future astronaut!

  The splashdown of Artemis I had just occurred on a couple of weeks before our visit on December 11, 2022 so seeing the Artemis exhibits was particularly timely. After visiting Space Center Houston, I’m certainly going to be monitoring the progress of the program much closer and with great anticipation.

• Orion Spacecraft replica

  Unlike the space capsules used previously for the Apollo/Mercury/Gemini missions, the Orion capsule that will be used for Project Artemis is reusable.  An Orion replica is on display at Space Center Houston, and it’s fun to climb inside of it.

• Mission Mars

  Did you know that the distance to Mars is about 150-200 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon?  Yet, Space Center Houston made me feel like a trip to Mars might actually happen in my lifetime because there are several interactive exhibits on Mars.  We learned about the weather on Mars (Kasie does her best weatherman impersonation below), what farms on Mars might grow, gravity on Mars, and I even got to touch a rock from Mars!

Kasie explains the weather on Mars at Space Center Houston

Touching Mars at Space Center Houston

GALAXY LIGHTS at SPACE CENTER HOUSTON

Although we spent most of an entire day at Space Center Houston, it felt like there was so much more to see and do.  I talked Kasie into paying another $29.95/person so that we could experience the Galaxy Lights event, which ran from 6 pm to 10 pm each evening during the 2022 holidays.  (Note:  The price was $19.95 prior to Christmas, but then increased during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day when we visited.)

Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston

Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston - Planet Display

Although we arrived at Space Center Houston shortly after 6 pm, a huge line to get into Galaxy Lights had already formed, and we didn’t start our journey until nearly 6:20 pm.  We quickly went to the Independence Plaza and SpaceX Falcon 9 outdoor areas, where saw colorfully lighted planets, astronauts, shooting stars, and other space-themed decorations along a dedicated path.  Festive music played in the background, and folks really did get in the spirit.

Podium that JFK used during his "Moon Speech” at Rice University

In the main atrium inside the building, we watched a kinetic light show where dozens of suspended lights move in precise choreographed sequences to music.   We also had enough time to catch the “Holidays in Space” film in the Destiny Theatre with real footage of astronauts celebrating the holidays. That room also holds the podium where John F. Kennedy gave is famous moon speech at Rice University on September 12, 1962.  I got chills seeing and thinking about his words:

“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

Just seven years after President Kennedy uttered those words, Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the Moon.

Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston. (We had to take about 100 photos to get this one with out any people photo-bombing it!)

I’m glad that we went to Galaxy Lights, but I would not do it again. The stream of people moved quite slowly with all of the selfies and photo ops. There were just too many people to get good photos where there weren’t other people in the background.   By the time we got through the light displays, we had to fight the crowds again to see the actual scientific and historical exhibits at Space Center Houston.  Those crowds didn’t start to peter out until about 9 pm. 

As for the lights themselves, they are pretty amazing, but I’m not sure they are worth the high price of admission.  (I think the ones at Rocky Pond  in my hometown are better….and they are free 😊.) For me, there is much more value is seeing the regular exhibits on display.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Space Center Houston is a true “bucket list” experience.  It is one of my favorite museums of all time.  Some people can spend a couple of hours there, take some good selfies, and be happy. It’s great for science geeks, history buffs, and anyone with a little imagination who likes to think about “what ifs” in the future. For folks like me who want take a deeper dive, the place does not disappoint either.

If you are in the Houston area, make Space Center Houston a “must do” on your itinerary.   

Day Trips to Galveston Island and Brazos Bend State Park

While staying in a southern Houston suburb, we decided to drive and spend some time in two local state parks: Galveston Island State Park and Brazos Bend State Park. Why? We were on the hunt to find some Texas aligators. (It’s an ongoing joke that no matter WHERE we go, Kasie is on the hunt for ‘gators!). Which one did we like best, and why?

Day Trip to Galveston Island: What We Learned

Greetings from Galveston Texas!

The beach.  Young love.  Milestone birthday.   The same summer that I stayed with Aunt Sue and Uncle Wayne, I was turning 21.  My then-boyfriend (yes, a boy!) took me to Galveston Island for this momentous occasion. Galveston has thus always held a special place in my memory.   I wanted to reminisce and relive some of Galveston…this time with Kasie. 

Although parts of Galveston seemed familiar, it didn’t live up to my self-made hype.  First, Galveston is really a pretty touristy beach town, and neither Kasie nor I are really “beach people.”  We don’t do well just lying in the sun and reading a book.  We’d rather be out exploring or getting some exercise.  For naps our lounging, we tend to prefer the nice air conditioning of the RV.   Sure, the views of the ocean waters can be fabulous, but on this particular morning, it was foggy and cloud-covered.

Galveston Island State Park

Eskimo Curlew statue at Galveston State Park

Our main destination was Galveston Island State Park for a little hiking.  We paid the $5/vehicle fee at the self-serve station.  Our main objective that morning was to see some alligators, and we were quite disappointed to see that access to the Alligator Loop trail was closed because of park construction.  

We drove to the railhead for the 0.5-mile Eskimo Curlew Trail to see if we could spot some birds instead.   The trail derives its name from the Eskimo Curlew, which was last seen in Galveston in 1962.   There’s a large bird statue in the park that was installed as part of the Lost Bird Project.  From a distance, I mistook it for an actual bird, and have lots of grainy footage of it😊.    Although mosquitos the size of birds (they were Texas-BIG) had brunch on us, we really didn’t see that many birds.  Overall, Galveston Island State Park was disappointing.

Galveston-Port Bolivar Ferry

Outside of the Galveston - Port Bolivar Ferry

Galveston - Port Bolivar Ferry

After grabbing a quick bite of non-authentic over-priced Mexican food in The Strand, we walked around the downtown shopping and entertainment district.  Then, in the afternoon, we acted like the ultimate tourists and we did the #1 Thing To Do in Galveston on Trip Advisor:  go on the free Galveston-Port Bolivar Ferry. 

The ferry has been operating since 1934 in some capacity. There were two ferries operating that day, and the ferries are the only way that motorists can cross the waterway between Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island. We decided to skip the vehicle line, leave the truck in the parking lot, and just ride back-and-forth without a vehicle.  The ferry boats can carry approximately 70 vehicles on the 2.7-mile journey.   The load time is around 10 minutes, and trip itself takes about 20 minutes.  The ferry sounds like a lame cheesy thing to do, but it a very entertaining way to spend an hour.  We climbed to an observation deck level and marveled at mechanics of the loading/unloading of the various vehicles (including a few RVs).   Several pelicans called the pier home, and few pods of dolphins said hello on the trip.   Best of all, the entire thing is FREE!

Our advice: Skip the State Park. Take The Ferry.

Day Trip to Brazos Bend State Park: Gator Hunting!

Heading from the Horseshoe Lake Loop Trail to Elm Lake at Brazos Bend State Park

Brazos Bend State Park is a 4,897-acre state park in Texas, located near Needville in Fort Bend County. The park is located about 45 miles southwest of downtown Houston and was just about 30 minutes from our campground.  A $7/person entrance fee seems a little pricey, but it is totally worth it. Why?

The park known for its diverse array of plants and animals, including a wide variety of birds and alligators.  YES, ‘GATERS!  We were finally saw alligators!  We saw about a dozen of them – either sunning themselves along the banks of the park's lakes and streams or swimming in the water.  Our route included the 1.2-mile 40 Acre Lake Trail to the 0.6-mile Spillway Trail, where we took part of the Elm Lake Trail to the 1.3-mile Horseshoe Loop.  My favorite alligator sighting was the South Side of Elm Lake, where we spotted several algae-covered alligators and turtles.  Along our hike, we spotted herons, egrets, woodpeckers, warblers, and even a few roseate spoonbill birds among the gorgeous Spanish Moss covered trees. We’ve been to several state parks in the United States, and Brazos Bend ranks in the Top 10 for me because of the wildlife.

Turtle at Brazos Bend State Park

Roseate Spoonbill at Brazos Bend State Park

Aligators at Brazos Bend State Park

HOUSTON - Do We Have a Problem?

Where:  The Bend RV Park (Site #32)
Cost:  $425/month plus electric for full hook-ups
Biking:  Buffalo Bayou trail system
Bucket List:  Houston Art Cars
Beer:  St. Arnold’s Brewery

“Houston for Christmas?” my mother asked me. Then, channeling her best Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 impression, she added, “Houston, we have a problem.”

Much to my mother’s dismay, we decided to spend the Christmas holidays away from my immediate family in Kansas this year.  Instead, we planned to stay at an RV park in a Houston suburb for the entire month of December.  Why, you ask?  My Aunt Sue lives in the area, and we wanted to spend the holidays with her.  About 30 years ago, I lived with her and my Uncle Wayne for a summer when I was working as a chemical engineering intern in Freeport, Texas.   Uncle Wayne away passed a few years ago, and I thought a trip to sunny and warm Texas in December would be a great opportunity to really get to know my Aunt Sue in person again and also escape the Midwest cold. Once I explained all of that, my mother was actually quite happy for our Houston holiday adventure.

Here’s what some of what we learned during our month-long stay in the Houston area:

• Where to Stay: The Bend RV Park

• How to Explore Buffalo Bayou Park – Hiking, Biking, and the Underground Cistern!

• Art Car Museum? What's an "Art Car"?

• Houston or "Brewston": The Best of Houston's Breweries

• Free Outdoor Art: Check Out Smither Park

• Day Trip to Galveston Island: What We Learned

• Day Trip To Brazos Bend State Park: Gator Hunting!

Where We Stayed: The Bend RV Park

The Bend RV Park is located in Rosharon, Texas — close to Highway 288 and Highway 6 and about 30-60 minutes from downtown Houston, depending on traffic.  All of the sites are paved and level, but they are on the small side with little green space.  There are train tracks across the access road just north of the RV park, and the trains run about every hour or so and can be heard throughout the park.  (That bothered me a little; Kasie didn’t mind it). The north side of the park contains a small shed with a couple of washers and dryers ($2.00/load), another small shower-house building, and the management office building.   Robert and Latasha live in the management building and manage the place (they also have a camper on site as well).   The website for The Bend RV Park mentions free wi-fi, but the tower signal was pretty weak or non-existent.  

About half of the RV sites back up to a wooden fence, and the other half back up to a small pond with two fountains and a handful of resident ducks and turtles.  The slope to the fishing pond was pretty steep at our site. With our truck and dog fencing, that didn’t leave much room for camp chairs so we didn’t spend much time outside.  The weather gods also gave us rain and below-freezing temperatures for much of our stay.

The Bend RV Park in Rosharon Texas (a suburb of Houston)

The Bend RV Park grew on me during our stay, primarily because of residents.  My best guess is that about 90% of the people staying at the RV park are full-time residents. When the weather forecast indicated that the temperatures would be in the low 20s for several days, park managers Robert and Latasha gave everyone plenty of notice that the water would be turned off and encouraged folks to fill up their fresh water tanks.  Another resident offered his extra space heaters for folks who might need one.  We teased our next-door neighbor about wearing shorts during the freeze.  It felt like a true community.

The Bend RV Park won’t win any awards in terms of luxurious amenities or location.   However, it served our basic needs – functional utilities, a level site, and a place to receive mail.  The next time we visit my Aunt Sue, I would not hesitate to stay there again.

Exploring Buffalo Bayou Park – Hiking, Biking, and the Underground Cistern!

Biking the Buffalo Bayou Greenway and White Oak Greenway in downtown Houston, Texas

The Buffalo Bayou River runs through the heart of Houston, and has caused significant flooding of the area over the years.   As such, in recent years, a non-profit called the Buffalo Bayou Partnership has spent over $200M developing the waterfront with flood control, hiking and biking trails, gardens, dog-parks, play areas, visitor centers, skate park, and amphitheater.  One attraction is the throngs of Mexican free-tailed bats near the Waugh St. Bridge. 

 Our first trek into the big city was to the Buffalo Bayou Park, where we explored the hiking trails adjacent the Buffalo Bayou Rvier.   We liked the area enough that we went back to ride our bikes along the Buffalo Bayou River and catch the White Oak Bayou Greenway to explore some of the areas northwest of downtown.   Our route was a mix of urban concrete underpasses, pylons, bridges, and other structures that are a civil engineer’s dream. 

Cistern Illuminated at Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston, Texas

One of our FAVORITE THINGS we discovered in downtown Houston was an old underground cistern than has now been repurposed as a tourist attraction right by the Buffalo Bayou River.   When the cistern was operational, the cistern held around fifteen million gallons of water.  Today, about 10 inches of water rest at the bottom of the cistern, and the reflection makes the space seem seem double in size.   As we walked around the cistern, a marvelous display of alternating light patterns adorned the space in an art installation called “Cistern Illuminated.”   The visual experience was one-of-a-kind, and the audio experience was just as good with a 17-second echo in the cistern chamber.   The cost to visit the Buffalo Bayou Cistern is just $10/person and the tour takes only 30 minutes. The Houston cistern is certainly worth the money and time.    

Art Car Museum….so what’s an “art car”?

Since 1988, Houston has been home to an annual Art Car Parade, which is now set for April each year.  The four-day event features over 250 uniquely vehicles known as “art cars.”   According to the website:

Art cars or art mobiles usually begin their lives as an older or used vehicle (car, truck, van, bus, jeep, golf cart, etc.). The owner of the car decided they want to alter their automobile, not necessarily converting what’s under the hood, but instead transforming the exterior/interior of the car. Some artists approach the alteration of their cars cautiously and tentatively, opting to use materials of a temporary nature such as paper or tape, while others decide to radically change the original structure of the vehicle so that it in effect becomes a moving sculpture.

Art Car Museum in Houston Texas a/k/a Garage Mahal

We wanted to see some art cars so we went to the Art Car Museum a/k/a the “Garage Mahal” — aptly named because the domed building looks like it is built out of scrap metal.   This non-profit museum has been dedicated to the art car movement since 1998. 

During our visit, there were four old cars on display, including a Model T and a 1915 Buick Model C24, as well as a remarkable "Glimpses of the Past" photography exhibit created by Bessie Dean Parr, who operated a photo studio in Collierville, Tennessee in the early 1900s.  The pseudo-eroded glass plate negatives add an extra layer of intrigue to the portraits of both white and black families shown.  All of that amazing photography was great, but much to our surprise, there were NO ART CARS ON DISPLAY AT THE ART CAR MUSEUM at the time of our visit.

Luckily, the docent at the Art Car Museum told us that one of the local breweries had some art cars on display.   Therefore, we just “had” to go to that brewery.

Old cars on display at the Art Car Museum in Houston, Texas

Example of Bessie Dean Parr’s photography on display at the Art Car Museum in Houston, Texas

Houston or "Brewston": The Best of Houston’s Breweries

St. Arnold Brewery

Several art cars have been commissioned by Saint Arnold Brewery, and were located just outside the taproom entrance.  The intricately tiled space themed one was my favorite since invoked memories of my delight with our visit to Space Center Houston. 

Part of a space-themed art car at St. Arnold Brewery near downtown Houston, Texas

One of Saint Arnold’s flagship beers is the “Art Car” IPA, and was good enough that I drank a couple of six-packs at home during our stay in the area.   The brewery is named for the patron saint of breweries, and the beer gods have been watching over this place since 1994.  Tours of the brewery are given four times each day.  The taproom next door features a full-service restaurant, taproom, and outdoor area with a large RV.   There’s overflow parking in several mural-lined lots next to the brewery with numerous signs reminding visitors not to leave valuables in their cars. 

Buffalo Bayou Brewing

Buffalo Bayou Brewing in Houston, Texas

Like Saint Arnold Brewery, most of the breweries in the Houston metropolitan area are located within a few minutes of downtown.  After our first trip to the Buffalo Bayou Park, we decided to check out the nearby Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company.   The upper floors provide some nice views of the downtown Houston skyline, and there’s a full-service restaurant located on the second floor.   I enjoyed the “Wake ‘n Bake” coffee and vanilla blonde during our visit. 

Several signs in the Buffalo Bayou Brewing parking lot told us to lock our cars and not to leave valuables. I felt quite safe in the area, but might not feel the same if we would have visited after dusk.

Holler Brewing Company

Holler Brewing Company in Houston, Texas

On the same day we went to the Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company, we also stopped at the nearby Holler Brewing Company. The brewery is located in an upscale strip mall of sorts next to the “Love Dance HTX” wedding dance lesson business, and the background music kept my toes tapping during our visit. As for the brewery, I liked the small intimate venue, and the local vibe. A small TV showed a football game (the American kind, not soccer). While enjoying the good weather on the front patio, I tried the Ghost Stores smore stout, and Kasie sampled the Ember Fire Strawberry Golden Ale.   Holler for beer! 

Platypus Brewing

Platypus Brewing in Houston, Texas

Platypus Brewing is also located close to downtown Houston, but a couple of the owners hale from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. With beers like “Freckled Dingo” and “Ranga,” the brewery pays homage to Australia with its beer names.  What’s a Ranga, you say?  It’s Aussie slang for a red-haired person.  An AC/DC pinball machine and a few Australian flag-themed decorations in the brewery.   

The food menu includes an “Aussie burger” complete with fried egg, bacon, and beet root! How do you say delicious in Australian?

8th Wonder Brewery

8th Wonder Brewery is located close to the PNC soccer stadium near downtown Houston, but the place is named after the Houston Astrodome, which was nicknamed the "8th Wonder of the World" when it opened in 1965.   I don’t really remember much about the beer at this brewery – probably because we were too busy exploring the awesome outdoor space.  There, we found four towering sculptures of the Beatles, an “I love Houston” sign, and “Greetings from Brewston” sign.  If you like selfies, this is the place to go.

I Heart Houston sign at 8th World Wonder Brewery in Houston, Texas

Hand-disembodies Beatles statues at 8th World Wonder in Houston, Texas

Brewston Sign at 8th World Wonder in Houston, Texas

Free Outdoor Art: Check Out Smither Park

Smither Part in Houston Texas

Smither Park is a hidden gem located in the East End neighborhood of Houston, Texas. With its vibrant mosaics and murals, the park is a true testament to the creativity and community spirit of the city. 

The park was created as part of the East End Street Art Festival, which was first held in 2013. Local artists were invited to create colorful mosaics and murals that would be displayed in the park.  Today, on most Saturdays, artists gather to work on the mosaic art creations using recycled and found materials.   The resulting artwork is truly breathtaking, with each piece telling a unique story and reflecting the diverse culture of Houston.  Over 300 individuals have contributed to the colorful works at Smither Park. 

Checkers Table at Smither Park in Houston Texas

In addition to its art, Smither Park is also home to a playground and a community garden. The playground is a great place for kids to run and play, while the community garden provides a space for local residents to grow their own vegetables and flowers.

The best part:  admission is always free!  For folks wanting to spend some money, the neighboring Orange Show ($5/person) is a good buy, but the place was only open on the weekends during our Houston stay and we didn’t have time to visit it.

Day Trip to Galveston Island: What We Learned

Greetings from Galveston sign in Galveston, Texas

The beach.  Young love.  Milestone birthday.   The same summer that I stayed with Aunt Sue and Uncle Wayne, I was turning 21.  My then-boyfriend (yes, a boy!) took me to Galveston Island for this momentous occasion. Galveston has thus always held a special place in my memory.   I wanted to reminisce and relive some of Galveston…this time with Kasie. 

Although parts of Galveston seemed familiar, it didn’t live up to my self-made hype.  First, Galveston is really a pretty touristy beach town, and neither Kasie nor I are really “beach people.”  We don’t do well just lying in the sun and reading a book.  We’d rather be out exploring or getting some exercise.  For naps our lounging, we tend to prefer the nice air conditioning of the RV.   Sure, the views of the ocean waters can be fabulous, but on this particular morning, it was foggy and cloud-covered.

Galveston Island State Park

At the Eskimo Curlew statue in Galveston Island State Park

Our main destination was Galveston Island State Park for a little hiking.  We paid the $5/vehicle fee at the self-serve station.  Our main objective that morning was to see some alligators, and we were quite disappointed to see that access to the Alligator Loop trail was closed because of park construction.  

We drove to the railhead for the 0.5-mile Eskimo Curlew Trail to see if we could spot some birds instead.   The trail derives its name from the Eskimo Curlew, which was last seen in Galveston in 1962.   There’s a large bird statue in the park that was installed as part of the Lost Bird Project.  From a distance, I mistook it for an actual bird, and have lots of grainy footage of it 😊.    Although mosquitos the size of birds (they were Texas-BIG) had brunch on us, we really didn’t see that many birds.  Overall, Galveston Island State Park was disappointing.

Galveston-Port Bolivar Ferry

Galveston - Port Bolivar Ferry

After grabbing a quick bite of non-authentic over-priced Mexican food in The Strand, we walked around the downtown shopping and entertainment district.  Then, in the afternoon, we acted like the ultimate tourists and we did the #1 Thing To Do in Galveston on Trip Advisor:  go on the free Galveston-Port Bolivar Ferry. 

The ferry has been operating since 1934 in some capacity. There were two ferries operating that day, and the ferries are the only way that motorists can cross the waterway between Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island. We decided to skip the vehicle line, leave the truck in the parking lot, and just ride back-and-forth without a vehicle.  The ferry boats can carry approximately 70 vehicles on the 2.7-mile journey.   The load time is around 10 minutes, and trip itself takes about 20 minutes.  The ferry sounds like a lame cheesy thing to do, but it a very entertaining way to spend an hour.  We climbed to an observation deck level and marveled at mechanics of the loading/unloading of the various vehicles (including a few RVs).   Several pelicans called the pier home, and few pods of dolphins said hello on the trip.   Best of all, the entire thing is FREE!

Our advice: Skip the State Park. Take The Ferry.

Day Trip to Brazos Bend State Park: Gator Hunting!

On the Horseshoe Lake Trail at Brazos Bend State Park

Brazos Bend State Park is a 4,897-acre state park in Texas, located near Needville in Fort Bend County. The park is located about 45 miles southwest of downtown Houston and was just about 30 minutes from our campground.  A $7/person entrance fee seems a little pricey, but it is totally worth it. Why?

The park known for its diverse array of plants and animals, including a wide variety of birds and alligators.  YES, ‘GATERS!  We were finally saw alligators!  We saw about a dozen of them – either sunning themselves along the banks of the park's lakes and streams or swimming in the water.  Our route included the 1.2-mile 40 Acre Lake Trail to the 0.6-mile Spillway Trail, where we took part of the Elm Lake Trail to the 1.3-mile Horseshoe Loop.  My favorite alligator sighting was the South Side of Elm Lake, where we spotted several algae-covered alligators and turtles.  Along our hike, we spotted herons, egrets, woodpeckers, warblers, and even a few roseate spoonbill birds among the gorgeous Spanish Moss covered trees. We’ve been to several state parks in the United States, and Brazos Bend ranks in the Top 10 for me because of the wildlife.

Elm Lake at Brazos Bend State Park

Roseate Spoonbill at Brazos Bend State Park

Elm Lake at Brazos Bend State Park

In addition to its rich array of flora and fauna, Brazos Bend State Park also features a nature center, visitors center, and camping areas.  The Burr Oak camping area even contains 50-amp electrical hookups.  The price is $25/night plus the daily entrance fee so depending on the number of people at the campsite, the price will vary.   I think it is a bargain for because of so much to see and do at the park. 

If you are looking for a state park in the Houston area, check at Brazos Bend State Park.

Walmart Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas

Walmart and Me

For better or worse, Walmart is a part of my life.  I remember going to Walmart as a kid in the 1980s.  The closest store was about 20 minutes away in Salina, Kansas (Store #588).   While my mother shopped locally as much as she could, we would make the drive to Salina every couple of months to load up on all sorts of household supplies and other items.  For the first part of my adult life, I shopped at Walmart infrequently, usually just for household, gardening and office supplies.   Gradually, the trips became more regular and our “Walmart list” grew. Today, we do most of our grocery shopping at Aldi and Walmart, and then usually supplement that with a trip to the local farmers market.  We get Percy his insulin at the Walmart pharmacy, and I’ve gotten my covid-19 vaccines there.   We usually pick up several cans of Ol’ Roy (Country Stew) that we use to top off the dog’s dry food.  The prices are good.  The selection is great.  And, as full-time RVers, we like the familiar layouts that Walmart offers at its locations.  

Admittedly, I have mixed feelings about having Walmart in my life to such a great extent.  There’s no doubt that Walmart has replaced a lot of the “mom and pop” independent stores, especially those located in smaller Midwest towns like the one I grew up in.  Walmart stores are often located on the outskirts of town so that downtown businesses seem to suffer disproportionally.   I haven’t been able to wean myself off Walmart, although the truth is that I haven’t tried every hard either. 

The Walmart Museum

Sam Walton’s 5-10 store in Bentonville, Arkansas

While RVing in Northwest Arkansas, I wanted to visit the Walmart Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas to learn more about the company and the man behind it, Sam Walton.   We visited in October 2022, just before the museum’s relocation for renovation until 2024.

The Walmart Museum isn’t actually in a former Walmart. As such, the exterior of the museum doesn’t look anything like the Walmart stores of today.  Instead, the building’s façade has a large red “Walton’s 5-10” sign…just like it did back int he 1950s. A few relatively small blue-and-yellow “Walmart Museum” banners with the familiar yellow spark symbol tell tourists that they are at the right place.   

Fun Fact:  Walmart first started using the yellow “spark” symbol in 2007 according to its trademark (Reg. No. 373555).  In 2018, Walmart dropped the hyphen from its name. 

Upon entering the Walmart Museum, we first encountered a small gift shop filled with other “Walmart shoppers.”  Because the museum was moving to a new location for renovation, the gift shop was filled with DEALS DEALS DEALS!!.   Kasie got excited because she loves to buy stuff, especially stuff on clearance. I reminder her that we don’t have room for souvenir stuff in the RV so we quickly moved beyond the gift store.   

As we entered the Walmart Museum’s exhibit area, there’s what I would call a short “Walmart Propaganda Film.”  Much of the film features CEO Doug McMillon and others talking about Walmart’s amazing history and its explosive growth. Yes, I already know it’s a gazillion dollar company.  Yes, I know about Every Day Low Prices.  Blah blah blah.   I kept listening, and when the film started highlighting some of Sam Walton’s life, that started to draw me in.  While I’m sure Sam’s story is sugar-coated, that tale and the origins of Walmart best part of Walmart Museum.   

Walmart chronology - 1940s, 1950s, 1960s — at the Walmart Museum

Walmart Chronology - 2000s - at the Walmart Musuem

The Walmart Museum is largely organized chronologically, and Sam’s early years were the most fascinating to me.  Sam was largely raised in Missouri and spent his teenage years in Columbia Missouri, where we lived for over eight years.  As a child, Sam was an over-achiever; for example, at age 13, Sam became the youngest Eagle Scout in Missouri at the time. Sam graduated from Hickman High School in Columbia, where he was the football quarterback, class president, and named “Most Versatile Boy.”  He then stayed in Columbia and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1940.  To pay for his education, he delivered newspapers, worked as a lifeguard, and waited on tables at the student union.  Before becoming his wife, Helen Robson also attended the Christian College for Women (now Columbia College) in Columbia, Missouri.

Sam Walton delivers papers for the Missourian at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri

Fun Fact: At one time, Columbia Missouri had a Walmart on Paris Road, the Parkade Plaza, Biscayne Mall, and the Rockbridge Shopping Center.  Today, a Walmart can be found on West Broadway (Store #80); Conley Road (Store #159), and Grindstone Parkway (Store #451)

Sam got his start in retail at a JC Penny in Iowa before joining the U.S. Army, where he ultimately became a captain.  He married Helen in 1943 and agreed to live in a small town once the war ended.  As a result, when Sam decided to go back into retail, Sam purchased a Ben Franklin franchise store in tiny Newport, Arkansas in 1945.    

Fun Fact:  Sam married his wife Helen Robson on Valentines Day in 1943. 

Sam’s franchise agreement required Sam’s store to purchase the vast majority of his goods through his franchisor, the Butler Brothers.   Sam quickly learned that by buying some goods directly from manufacturers and wholesalers, he could get the goods more cheaply and could sell the goods to his customers at lower prices.  Sam’s franchise was successful.  Very successful.   When the landlord of the Newport location would not renew Sam’s five-year lease because the landlord wanted to reclaim the franchise for his own family, Sam was heartbroken. He learned his lesson, decided to purchase a small variety store in Bentonville, Arkansas, and moved his family to the area.   This time, his lease was for 99 years.

Fun Fact:  Sam’s time away from Newport, Arkansas did not last forever.  On November 1, 1969, Sam opened a Walmart in Newport (store #18)

Walton’s 5-10 Advertisement

On May 9, 1950, Sam opened the Walton’s 5&10 in Bentonville as a Ben Franklin franchise store.  The first ad for Walton's 5&10 in the Benton County Democrat, July 29, 1950 was clearly targeting women -- promising “free balloons for all of the kiddies” and specials on nylon hose, clothespins, and other household items.  There, Sam soon adopted customer self-service, which was quite novel in the 1950s, when the convention was requiring customers to ask a counter clerk for assistance.   With the help of his father and brother Bud, Sam continued to open up new franchises and expand his discounting practices.

It’s stil not clear to me how Sam got out of his franchise agreements or what happened with the Butler Brothers. Regardless, in 1962, Sam opened his first true “Wal-Mart Discount City,” in nearby Rogers, Arkansas.  Two years later, he opened two more Walmarts, one in Harrison, Arkansas and another in Springdale, Arkansas. David Glass (long-time owner of the Kansas City Royals), who would join Walmart 14 years later, attended the opening of the Walmart in Harrison, Arkansas.  He remarked: “It was the worst retail store I had ever seen.”

Walmart’s first advertisement in Rogers, Arkansas

Fun Fact:  In 1962, four companies started discount chains:  Kmart (Garden City, Michigan), Woolco (Columbus, Ohio), Target (Minneapolis, Minnesota), and Walmart (Rogers, Arkansas).

From the company’s hub in Bentonville, Sam expanded his Walmart into Missouri and Oklahoma….and then ultimately the world.  By 1985, Forbes named Sam the richest man in the world.  In 1992, President Bush awarded Sam the Presidential Medal of Freedom shortly before his passing.  The medal is on display at the Walmart Musuem, and that was particularly moving for me to see.

Fun Fact:  In 1984, Sam Walton performed a hula dance on Wall Street because the company reached a certain profit.

The Walmart Museum highlights how Walmart has changed and grown over the years, its philanthropic legacy, and its plans for the future.  An animated map shows the explosion of stores over time in the United States, and there’s a model of the company’s new Bentonville corporate headquarters campus that is currently undergoing construction.

The museum has a few “old school” interactive exhibits too.  For example, by spinning a roll, visitors can learn that EDLP stands for “Every Day Low Prices” and not “Elvis’s Dog Love Pants.”    I hope that the new renovated museum doesn’t get too fancy and lose some of its charm with exhibits like this. 

At least for me, the stories about Sam are really what make the museum worth visiting.  The museum houses Sam’s old (very messy!) office, complete with images of Sam with his family and hunting dogs throughout.  Sam’s old 1979 Ford F-150 pickup truck is in the museum, and the photos of Sam and Ol’ Roy in the truck are on display.   In 1980, Walmart re-named its private label dog food in honor of Ol’ Roy, and the dog’s likeness was added to the packaging. Now, every time if feed our dogs, I’m probably going to think of Sam too.

Sam Walton’s office at the Walmart Museum

Sam Walton’s pickup truck at the Walmart Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas

Sam Walton wrote a psuedo-autobiography, Made in America, shortly before his death in 1992.  After visiting the museum, I decided to read the book, which was an easy and entertaining read.  The irony is that I read the book on my Amazon kindle.  Amazon was founded in 1994, and I kept wondering how Sam would have felt about the competition.  

In his book, Sam’s work ethic, competitivenss, and folksiness shine. Sam talks a lot about Walmart’s strategy of opening discount stores in small towns where the competition was non-existent.   He also offers some advice to small town merchants:

Buy on Amazon

Most independents are best off, I think, doing what I prided myself on doing for so many years as a storekeeper: getting out on the floor and meeting every one of the customers. Let them know how much you appreciate them, and ring that cash register yourself. That little personal touch is so important for an independent merchant because no matter how hard Wal-Mart tries to duplicate it—and we try awfully hard —we can't really do it…..It's the one kind of store for which I have the least sympathy because, frankly, a good smart hardware store operator can just beat us to death if he thinks about what he's doing and commits to putting up a fight. If he gets his assortment right and makes sure his salespeople have excellent knowledge of the products and how to use them, and goes out of his way to take care of his customers, he can keep plenty of business away from us. We don't have nearly the assortment of a hardware store— plumbing supplies and electrical equipment and specialty tools. And not all of our folks can explain how to fix a leaky faucet or rewire a lamp the way folks in a hardware store should be able to. Our paint customers don't get waited on much either. They have to pick out their own paint and then walk around with it looking for the rest of the things they want. The same is true in sporting goods, where the customer can't expect to get nearly the same kind of service from us as from a specialty store.

The Walmart Museum and Sam’s book may not have changed how I think about Walmart, but they certainly gave me perspective.   Even though Sam has been gone for thirty years, the company seems to make great efforts to have his philosophy permeate the corporate culture.   He’s still an ambassador for the company in many respects. 

Overnight Parking at Walmart

Sam Walton and his family loved the outdoors. As Helen Walton recalls in Sam’s book:

During the Ben Franklin days, we took a month off every year. In fifty-six, I remember we did the whole state of Arkansas. We went to the parks, camped out, and we all fell in love with this state because we really got to know it. That was a marvelous, wonderful time. Then one year we took a long trip to Yellowstone, another year we went to Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon, and another time we took a long journey up the East Coast. We took a car full of kids and all our camping equipment strapped on everywhere, and I loved it. Camping was really important in our lives.

As perhaps a legacy of that love of camping, many Walmarts offer free overnight parking for RVers.  According to the corporate Walmart FAQ page:

While we do not offer electrical service or accommodations typically necessary for RV customers, Walmart values RV travelers and considers them among our best customers. Consequently, we do permit RV parking on our store lots as we are able. Permission to park is extended by individual store managers, based on availability of parking space and local laws. Please contact management in each store to ensure accommodations before parking your RV.

Fewer and fewer Walmarts permit overnight parking nowadays though. A good place to start to see if a particular Walmart permits overnight parking is the “unofficial” online store locator map below. From what I can tell, the map gets updated fairly regularly.

Because permission to park overnight is granted by individual store managers, it is important to speak with the appropriate store manager.  Different managers may give different answers regarding overnight RV parking.

For those who take advantage of free overnight parking, remember that “overnight” means a single night.  The idea is that some Walmarts have space to park a rig and get some rest before leaving the following morning. It is always good to patronize the store, if possible.  The Walmart parking lot isn’t a campground either so common courtesy says that overnighters shouldn’t set up grills, chairs, or other items in the parking lot. In other words, do not camp in a Walmart parking lot.

Final Thoughts

I was expecting the Walmart Museum to be a quick one-hour experience. It turned out to be much more. I couldn’t tell you who founded K-Mart or Target or most other retailers. But I do know a lot about about Sam Walton and Walmart. I’m sure that the new renovated museum will be tell the story even better. If you are in Northwest Arkansas, the Walmart Museum is worth a stop.

RV Holiday Song (and Official Music Video)

Even though we are full-time RVers, we still like to celebrate the holidays with classic Christmas carols.  Here’s our take on Jingle Bells….from our beloved motorhome.  This was a fun, silly little jingle to create and we hope you enjoy it!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Blessed Ramadan, Good Winter Solstice, Festive Festivus, and whatever holiday you celebrate!

PS: We are not a professional singers or musicians.  Be kind.

Lyrics to the RV Holiday Song (a/k/a RV Christmas Song)

VERSE I:
See the dash, it shows
A warmer place to stay
Where we can take our home
When winter’s on its way

We like Cracker Barrel
And Walmart overnights
When we are heading south
For higher Fahrenheits

CHORUS I:
Jingle bells. Who needs hotels
We’ve got an RV
We like to camp with 50 amps
Of shore electricity.

Jingle bells. The RV smells
Sorta like rotten eggs
The pooper’s full.  I need to pull
The black valve then the gray.

VERSE II:
Texas, Arizona
Alabama will do.
Florida’s too crowded.
And the drivers are cu-coo.

Let’s set the GPS
For a nice COE
We don’t fit everywhere
At 39 feet. 

CHORUS II:
I just looked. Everything is booked
I don’t know where to stay
Whoa, I just found. A sketchy campground
What do you say?

There’s no pool. Lots of regs and rules
No pet fences on the lawn.
But there’s 50 amp.  So we can camp.
Without the genny on

VERSE III:
We traded our home
For a few hundred square feet.
With a washer and a dryer
And a fireplace for heat

We’ve got to add DEF
To our diesel power.
But I’m glad we got that Aquahot
To take a long hot shower.

CHORUS III:
Travel day. We cannot wait
For a change of scene
Let’s stay a while. Still in style.
And live the RV dream.

Me and my wife. This RV life.
From place to place we roam
We have five mutts.  It’s a little nuts
But we love our motorhome.

VERSE IV:
We vacuum every day
And do dishes every meal
I flush with my foot
And keep two hands on the wheel.

We’re two classy broads
Who like to hit the road
With our rig, Big Lady
And a truck as our toad.

CHORUS IV:
We get to town. The jacks go down
For now, the slides stay in. 
Damn the devil.  Our site’s not level.
I hate leveling again.

Jingle Bells. Can you tell
We like silly carols.
Please raise your glass. To all the broads with class. 
And don your gay apparel.

VERSE V:
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
And that Santa’s list has buckets
Biking and beer

Here’s to merry times with
Friends and family
Whether that’s in stick and bricks,
Fifth Wheel, trailer, or RV

CHORUS V:
Let’s put up the tree. In our RV
And take some time to pray.
For our blessed dogs.  And the travel Gods.
As we venture on our way

Ho Ho Ho. Here we go
Let’s jingle all the way.
Let’s have a ball. Safe travels to all
And happy holidays.

Music Credits for the RV Holiday Song:

(1) The music ("Jingle Bells") was recorded by Music for Videos (Oleg Kirilkov) and is available on pixabay.com.

https://pixabay.com/music/indie-pop-jingle-bells-indie-rock-122771/

(2) “Bells” (in Chorus V) was recorded by juskiddink and is available at freesound.org

https://freesound.org/people/juskiddink/sounds/110158/

CC-BY 4.0

(3) The lyrics/vocals/remix/video were created by Lana Knedlik. The lyrics/vocals/remix are what constitutes the "official music video" (not the underlying song).

Copyright 2022 Lana Knedlik
All Rights Reserved

 #christmascarol #fulltimerv #christmassongs #jinglebells #RVsongs

Full-Time RV Newbie Mistake?: Our $60,000 Bike Rack!

About Our Electric Bikes

We LOVE (that’s capital L-O-V-E) our e-bikes, which we’ve owned since 2018. Although our specific model is no longer available, I-Zip’s Vida model is probably the closest thing on the market today.

• The bikes are “pedal assist” which means that we can use the electric assist or not use it. Eighty to ninety percent of the time, we do not use the electric assist.

• We have NEVER run out of battery. We typically only use about 1/4 to 1/3 of a charge on our long rides. That means we can ride close to 40 miles with no problem.

• We especially like the big beefy full size tires (27.5”)!

• With an integrated battery and a mid-drive motor, the bikes have good aesthetics AND power.

• The e-bikes are capable of going 28 mph! We’ve only gotten close to that a couple of times when we were trying to beat a storm on the ride home.

• The main downside to our bikes is that they are heavy (55 lbs/bike).

RV Traveling with Electric Bikes

When we started RVing back in 2019, one of the first things we had to think about was where to store our beloved electric bikes. We removed the top bunk in our Jayco Greyhawk 31F and used the bunk area to store our electric bikes.  We purchased a THINStem kit (two removable pedals, movable stem) to make the bikes more easily fit in the space (this video shows how the kit works). It was a little cumbersome to get the bikes in and out of the RV door when we wanted to go on rides, but we thought that our indoor storage solution worked well.

After deciding to live full-time in “Big Lady” (our Entegra AccoLADE XL 37L), we struggled with how to successfully travel with and store our electric bikes.  Even with our big 39-foot rig, we simply didn’t have room in our RV to store them indoors because our bunks were filled with other items. 

Given our dillemna, we seriously considered getting new bikes that MIGHT be easier to store inside the RV or inside the back of our tow vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.

• Bikes With Smaller Wheels.  I know a lot of RVers rave about their teeny-tiny electric bikes with 20” wheels.  LECTRIC makes a good entry level bike with tiny wheels (example below). But personally, I just don’t like the way these little bikes look.  I feel like people would look at me the way I look at a guy driving a Mazda Miata convertable. Riding a bike with such small tires is also a TOTALLY different experience, and I just couldn’t see myself enjoying the ride as much with a small-wheeled bike.

• Foldable Bike.  Foldable bikes are all the rage. However, in my opinion, there are just a handful of companies that make a “good” foldable full-sized e-bike with a mid-drive motor.  Most full-size foldable bikes are made in China and have horrible online reviews; actually making a warranty claim and getting a part would probably be a nightmare.  More importantly, I’m not convinced that a foldable bike is “THE” solution for us. The American-made Montague M-E1 folds down to 38″x38″x13”, but even at that size, finding a place to store two bikes is challenging.  Two M-E1 bikes MIGHT fit in the back of our Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk, but we wouldn’t be able to store anything else back there. The bottom line is that purchasing two foldable full-sized bikes probably would not solve our storage problem.

Flatten Your Bike Kit - Folding stem and pop-off Pedals (1.25" Handlebar Diameter, Flat Pedals) Buy on Amazon

XP Lite Lectric Bike | Folding Electric Bike - Weighs Only 46lbs | 40+ Mile Range w/ 5 Pedal-Assist Levels (Midnight Black) Buy on Amazon

Montague M-E1

Ultimately, we decided to keep our existing e-bikes and look at outdoor storage options. We can’t predict the weather, which means that sometimes we have to drive in the rain or snow. Therfore, any outdoor option was also going to require us to cover the electric bikes to protect them from inclement weather. Here’s the bike storage/travel options we considered with those considerations in mind:

• Attach a bike rack to our Tow Vehicle.  This sounds like an easy solution, right? Unfortunately, any cover for the e-bikes would obstruct both our license plate and our taillights.  Sure, we could move the license plate to the rack so the plate is visible. And, there are a few translucent/transparent bike covers out there on the market (here’s an example) . However, even with a clear cover, I still worry that the taillights may not be fully visible, especially in the rain or snow., which is a safety issue. I’m also concerned that a “see-through” bike cover could be a legal issue in some of the jurisdictions we might be traveling through.

• Attach a Bike Rack to the FRONT of our RV. Sorry no. I don’t think our bikes make good cattle guards. I am also concerned that the covered bikes would interfere with the use of our motorhome’s headlights. We didn’t really consider this option much.

• Attach a Bike Rack to the ROOF of our Tow Vehicle. Another sorry no. We’re both too short, and we would probably end up damaging our tow vehicle getting the bikes on and off.

• Attach a bike rack to the ladder of our motorhome. Still another no. That just doesn’t seem very stable.

• Attach a bike rack to our Motorhome. We did A LOT of online research on this option.  We were hesitant to use the $450 bike-rack we already owned since 2018 (KAC K2) because it was not explicitly motorhome-approved.  We also needed to make sure that the bike rack would not interfere with our Roadmaster Nighthawk tow system. Ultimately, we purchased a Swagman Current bike rack where the manufacturer confirmed could be used in connection with a motorome.  Did it work?

Our “motorhome-approved” bike rack was a disaster. On our first trip, one of our e-bikes slipped a few inches, causing them to rub against each other and the bike rack itself. The paint on my bike frame was removed in a couple of areas from the shearing forces. We also lost a bike bag on that same trip. I felt lucky that the bike bag didn’t break our tow vehicle’s windshield or do other damage to our tow vehicle.  

On our next voyage, we quadruple-checked the bike rack set-up to make sure things were secure and wedged several foam pool noodles between the bikes for added protection.  We turned on the RV’s back up camera en route only to cringe as we watched the bikes bob up and down as we traveled on the highway.  In short, the “attach a bike rack to our motorhome” option did not feel remotely safe. 

Of note, Swagman (and other manufacturers) also make few “RV-approved” bike racks which are specifically designed to handle the added force of being used on a tent trailer, travel trailer, 5th wheel, or motorhome. Perhaps we should have purchased one of those “RV-approved” bike racks instead of a “motorhome-approved” bike rack. At this point though, we really weren’t feeling like spending additional $300-$400 yet another bike rack.

This Joy-Tech bike cover touts a “transparent mesh-like pvc to ensure that the car taillights will not be blocked” but I’m not convinced that this isn’t a safety or legal issue.

KAC K2: We bought this bike rack in 2018 to use on the back of our Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. That wasn’t a good solution because our license plate and taillights would not be fully visible when using a bike cover. This bike rack is also not explicitly rated for use with a motorhome or RV.

Swagman Current: The manufacturer confirmed that this bike rack can be used on a motorhome. We don’t recommend it though.

Swagman Nomad: The manufacturer says this bike rack is “RV approved.” It looks a lot like the KAC K2 rack we purchased back in 2018. We did not purchase this bike rack, but perhaps we should have.

Our “$60,000 Bike Rack”

So, as the proud owners of two bike racks and a couple of e-bikes that were getting more beat up on each trip, we started thinking about one last option.  Rather than spend more money on yet another bike rack, we decided to spend A LOT MORE MONEY. How much more? About $60K.

Ultimately, we decided to trade in our tow vehicle for a full-sized truck so that we could safely and securely store and carry our e-bikes in the truck bed.   Yes, our $60,000 bike rack is really a GMC Sierra 1500 Elevation.

Admittedly, we were probably in the market for a new tow vehicle anyway. We had over 30,000 miles on our 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk, and an additional 20,000 miles on it from flat towing it around the country. In the next year, we would need to get new tires and also do some maintenance that we had been neglecting. Plus, Kasie just loves spending money (I don'‘t). She does most of the driving and so if a new truck was going to make her happy, then I wouldn’t object.

Our 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.

Our $60,000 Bike Rack (a GMC 1500 Sierra Elevation) on the day we purchased the truck.

Truck Bed Fork Mount: A $60 Bike Rack

For folks who already have a truck, mounting a bike in a truck bed is fairly simple and inexpensive.  Just attach a couple of fork mounts to a board sized to wedge into the width of the truck bed. Here’s what we used:

NANSIKE Bike Fork Mount, Versatile Bike Block, Aluminum Alloy Bicycle Front Fork, Bike Block Fork Mount, Quick Release Fork for Truck/Trailer/Bikes Racks Buy on Amazon

• 2”x6”x8” pressure-treated lumber (~$10)

• Circular saw

• Screws and drill driver

• Two bike fork mount (~$20 each)

The rear tire of each bike rests in one of the truck bed’s grooves. One nice benefit to this flexible system is that we can space the bikes apart so that our bikes won’t rub against each other. We also secure the bikes to truck bed by running a tie-down strap along the back part of the frame.

Admittedly, I was initially skeptical that this simple solution would work. My main concern was the stabilty of the fork mount itself and the wear that might occur on the bike on the fork. Yet, I had to keep in mind that every time I ride my bike, the fork mount is undergoing all sorts of stresses and strains. When the bike is mounted to a truck bed, the stresses are probably way less than riding the bike because of the suspension system of the truck.

The main downside to this bike storage system is that we do have to remove the wheel to store the bikes in the truck bed. As a result, when we arrive at a campground where we think we are going to be riding on multiple occasions, we remove the bikes from the truck bed and use the Swagman Current bike rack attached to the RV for stationary storage.

(2023 Update): After posting the video, we made two major changes to our system.

First, we added a truck cap to better protect the e-bikes from the snow and theft. We opted for the A.R.E. CX Revo (base $3085). We added the window pet screens, keyless entry, and some other options so the total cost with installation was $4460. So yes, now we have a $65K bike rack!

Our truck cap! Just add another another $4500!

Second, we reconstructed the fork mount system to provide better access to the bikes. Essentially, we created a sliding tray. Below are the basic components of the new sliding tray system:

(1) Cut a piece of plywood sized to fit between the wheel wells and extend the full lengh of the truck bed

(2) Glue/screw two small blocks of wood to the plywood where the fork mounts will be attached. Screw from both the bottom and the top of the plywood to make sure wooden blocks are secured to the plywood.

(3) Attach the two fork mounts to the two small blocks of wood using screws.

(4) Glue/screw two ~10-inch pieces of wood to the plywood where each rear tire will rest to essentially make a groove for each rear tire.

(5) Attach two metal handles to the plywood.

To use our “bike tray,” we grab the handles and slide the entire tray out a few feet. This allows us to access the bikes without needing to crawl way inside the truck bed. Importantly, we don’t pull the bikes out very far — just enough to be able to grab them. There’s also enough room on the sides to keep a camping chair, as well as plenty of room between the bikes to keep our pet fence system (three fencing panels and two lattice panels), outdoor rug, and some other items in the truck bed.

Our updated $60,000 bike rack (2023)

If you ask me, it’s a pretty neat and inexpensive sliding tray deign. Yes, it’s a little white-trash, but hey….

Of note, several companies make sliding trays for truck beds. We researched those, but the trays sit on the truck bed so that the tray itself is a few inches higher than the truck bed. Unfortunately, our bikes would have been too tall to fit inside the truck bed with the truck cap on if we used one of those classy looking sliding truck beds.

Final Thoughts

In most campgrounds, I see all sorts of bike racks being used on the back of motorhomes. I always wonder why we had so much trouble and others apparently didn’t. If you have a bike rack that you’ve attached to your motorhome to tow heavy e-bikes without ANY incidents AND you are able to put a cover on the bikes to protect them from the weather, I’d love to know the model and if there is anything special you do with the set-up.

In the meantime, thanks for reading and safe travels.

We like this Nansike bike fork mount because it comes with rings so that the mount can be appropriately sized for any bike.

Crystal Bridges - An Honest Review

Although we haven’t been to all of the major art museums, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, Arkansas) is a true national treasure.  Alice Walton, the daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, funded much of the museum, which opened in 2011. She is currently the second wealthiest woman in the world, and she spared no expense with this museum.  This isn’t just “a” museum though.  It’s really a campus of art and learning, and new buildings were being constructed during our visit so it is bound to be even bigger and better.  

Model of Crystal Bridges Museum of Modern Art

There’s so much to do at Crystal Bridges that visitors should plan on 1-3 days (yes, I said “DAYS”) to truly appreciate the museum.  The building itself, designed by renouned architect Moshe Safdie, is a work of art! The entrance is intentionally unassuming, but then wow…..this is nature-centric architecture at its best.

To really get a feel for what Crystal briges has to offer, check out our video on Crystal Bridges above.

Crystal Bridges Outdoor Collection

For nature lovers, the outdoor attractions are a must-see.   During our multiple visits in the fall of 2022, we enjoyed the “Architecture at Home” exhibition, the Bachman-Wilson house (a Frank Lloyd Wright home originally built in New Jersey), and the outdoor sculpture walk.  Those activities were all free.

Sculpture of Alice Walton’s dog, Good Friday, by Kelly Graham (2020) at the Crystal Bridges Museum of Modern Art

Fun Fact: In 2020, the sculpture garden paid homage to Alice Walton’s dog, Good Friday. Alice is quoted as saying: ““if we could all listen and be as sensitive as dogs are to our needs and emotions, the world would be a better place.”  There was something about the simplicity and honesty of this work that made it one of my favorites.

For an extra fee, the museum offered a nighttime light and sound display on the museum’s trails. We had already experienced the “North Forest Lights” on a prior visit in 2019, we opted to forego “Listening Forest” in 2022 (~$22/person). However, the light display really is something worth experiencing and paying for.

Crystal Bridges Indoor Collection

Most of Crystal Bridge’s indoor collection is free to view as well.  The collection is vast enough that some aspect will probably appeal to most folks.  There’s familiar works like Flag by Jasper Johns, No. 210/211 (Orange) by Mark Rothko, and White Flower No. 1 by Georgia O'Keeffe.  Much of the museum’s collection is not on display, and the new buildings will hopefully offer a new home to many of those works. 

For me, the highlight of Crystal Bridges was the museum’s “We the People” temporary exhibit. Talk about a true bucket list experience!   Here, the history books came to life.   On display were the Articles of Confederation (1777), a “facsimile” of the Declaration of Independence commissioned by John Quincy Adams (1820), a first edition of the Constitution (1778), a draft Bill of Rights with 17 amendments (1789), the Federalist Papers by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison (1787), Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery (1865).  I was simply in awe. I read about these documents in grade school.  I studied them in law school.   And now, here they were in front of me.  How much did I love this exhibit? I visited the museum on another occasion just to see these amazing documents again!

“We The People” Exhibit at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas

Bill of Rights at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas

Declaration of Independence at Crystal Bridges

Sandow Birk’s Monument to the Constitution

Because I was in a patriotic mood during my visits to Crystal Bridges, my favorite piece of art was the “Monument to the Constitution of the United States” by Sandow Birk.  The text of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are brought to life in this drawing with a sense of humor, and I actually giggled out loud when I noticed the Supreme Court next to Tacos Supreme and the White House right by the House of Pancakes.

The musuem has a gift shop, restaurant (the “Eleven”), coffee bar, an area for kids to get artsy as well. On one of our visits, we decided to try the Eleven burger (two patties, sharp white cheddar, pickled red onion, tomato, BBQ-spiced mayo on a brioche bun) with french fries (small “f” because we are AMERICAN - ha ha!), which were quite tasty.

I will forever tout Crystal Bridges to anyone who is visiting Northwest Arkansas. Each time I visit, I come away inspired. If you haven’t been, go. If you have been, go again.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Things to Do in Northwest Arkansas

In the fall of 2022, we spent about seven weeks exploring Northwest Arkansas (NWA). If you are planning a trip to the area, here are some fun things to check out.

#1:  Visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville) (it's FREE!)

#2:  Bike the Razorback Greenway

#3:  Get Political at the Clinton House Museum (Fayetteville)

#4:  Hike a Colorful NWA Trail

#5:  Be Crafty at One (or More) NWA Breweries

 #6:  Go To Walmart

Here’s what you can expect:

#1: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville)

Although we haven’t been to all of the major art museums, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, Arkansas) is a true national treasure.  Alice Walton, the daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, funded much of the museum, which opened in 2011. She is currently the second wealthiest woman in the world, and she spared no expense with this museum.  This isn’t just “a” museum though.  It’s really a campus of art and learning, and new buildings were being constructed during our visit so it is bound to be even bigger and better.  

There’s so much to do at Crystal Bridges that visitors should plan on 1-3 days (yes, I said “DAYS”) to truly appreciate the museum.  The building itself, designed by renouned architect Moshe Safdie, is a work of art! The entrance is intentionally unassuming, but then wow…..this is nature-centric architecture at its best.

For nature lovers, the outdoor attractions are a must-see.   During our multiple visits in the fall of 2022, we enjoyed the “Architecture at Home” exhibition, the Bachman-Wilson house (a Frank Lloyd Wright home originally built in New Jersey), and the outdoor sculpture walk.  Those activities were all free. For an extra fee, the museum offered a nighttime light and sound display on the museum’s trails, but because we had already experienced the “North Forest Lights” on a prior visit in 2019, we opted to forego “Listening Forest” in 2022 (~$22/person).

Most of Crystal Bridge’s indoor collection is free to view as well.  The collection is vast enough that some aspect will probably appeal to most folks.  There’s familiar works like Flag by Jasper Johns, No. 210/211 (Orange) by Mark Rothko, and White Flower No. 1 by Georgia O'Keeffe.  Much of the museum’s collection is not on display, and the new buildings will hopefully offer a new home to many of those works. 

For me, the highlight of Crystal Bridges was the museum’s “We the People” temporary exhibit. Talk about a true bucket list experience!   Here, the history books came to life.   On display were the Articles of Confederation (1777), a “facsimile” of the Declaration of Independence commissioned by John Quincy Adams (1820), a first edition of the Constitution (1778), a draft Bill of Rights with 17 amendments (1789), the Federalist Papers by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison (1787), Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery (1865).  I was simply in awe. I read about these documents in grade school.  I studied them in law school.   And now, here they were in front of me.  How much did I love this exhibit? I visited the museum on another occasion just to see these amazing documents again!

“We the People” exhibition at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas

Declaration of Independence original facsimile (1823) at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas

Draft Bill of Rights wiht 17 Amendments (1789) at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas

Because I was in a patriotic mood during my visits to Crystal Bridges, my favorite piece of art was the “Monument to the Constitution of the United States” by Sandow Birk.  The text of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are brought to life in this drawing with a sense of humor, and I actually giggled out loud when I noticed the Supreme Court next to Tacos Supreme and the White House right by the House of Pancakes.

“Monument to the Constitution of the United States” by Sandow Birk - at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas

The musuem has a gift shop, restaurant (the “Eleven”), coffee bar, an area for kids to get artsy as well. On one of our visits, we decided to try the Eleven burger (two patties, sharp white cheddar, pickled red onion, tomato, BBQ-spiced mayo on a brioche bun) with french fries (small “f” because we are AMERICAN - ha ha!), which were quite tasty.

I will forever tout Crystal Bridges to anyone who is visiting Northwest Arkansas. Each time I visit, I come away inspired. If you haven’t been, go. If you have been, go again.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

#2: Bike the Razorback Greenway

Razorback Greenway in Fayetteville, Arkansas

The Razorback Regional Greenway is a ~40-mile shared-use trail that extends from south Fayetteville to Bella Vista.  There are several off-shoots from the main artery as well.  Simply put, the trail system in Northwest Arkansas is one of the best that we’ve encountered to date. 

We stayed at Southgate RV Park in Fayetteville, which is conveniently located close to this extensive multiuse trail system.  The northwest section of the RV park connects up with a side street that provides direct access to the Cato Springs Trail so the trail system is a great way to explore the city.  Because vehicle parking in downtown Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas is quite sparse and expensive, I found that biking was a much better way to get around town when visiting those areas.   

#3: Get Political at the Clinton House Museum (Fayetteville)

The Clinton House Museum is located at 930 W. Clinton Drive, just south of the University of Arkansas.   On one afternoon, I biked to the museum to learn more about Bill and Hillary’s time in Fayetteville.  The couple did not reside in the area long, but some very key moments in their lives happened in Fayetteville.

Bill and Hillary met at Yale law school. After graduating from Yale, in 1973, Bill accepted a job as a professor at University of Arkansas School of Law, in Fayetteville but Hillary decided to stay behind on the East Coast to work at the Children’s Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While on vacation to England that summer, Bill proposed to Hillary.  While she said “no,” she promised to visit Fayetteville and take the Arkansas bar.  

When Bill first moved to Fayetteville, he rented in a small one-bedroom home off Highway 16 (6725 Huntsville Road) for $150/month.  Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the home in 2017.  

Bill Clinton for Congress sign (1975) at the Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Ballot Box from the Bill Clinton’s 1974 Congressional Primary (Clinton House Museum, Fayetteville AR)

While employed by the University of Arkansas School of Law, Bill taught a wide variety of subjects: constitutional law, criminal procedure, trade regulation, federal jurisdiction, and admiralty law; he earned $14,709/year.  Keeping her promise, Hillary visited Bill in Fayetteville during the 1973-1974 Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

That year (1974) was a big one for Bill and Hillary politically.  At just 28 years old, Bill ran for Congress.  Bill led the multi-candidate primary with 44% of the vote, and then beat well-known Arkansas state senator Gene Rainwater in a run-off election with 69% of the vote.  

In the general election, Bill suffered is first political defeat, losing to a popular Republican incumbent, John Paul Hammerschmidt, who held the Congressional seat from 1967 to 1993.  Bill came close though — capturing 48.2% of the vote. One of my favorite parts of the Clinton House Museum is a video of one of Bill’s old campaign ads, which features Bill glad-handing the locals to a country tune: 

“Bill Clinton’s ready, he’s fed up too. He’s a lot like me, he’s a lot like you. Bill Clinton’s gonna get things done, and we’re gonna send him to Washington.”

Bill didn’t make it to Washington that year, and instead, Hillary moved to Fayetteville that summer. She taught at the law school, making roughly what Bill did. In addition to teaching criminal law, criminal procedure, trial advocacy and prison project, Hillary founded the Legal Aid Clinic and taught it every semester. Hillary lived in a house just west of campus in the Markham Hill area.

Hillary Clinton purchased this Jessica McClintock dress for just $53 the night before her wedding. She didn’t want to wear a dress, but her mother insisted. (Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville, Akansas)

In May 1975, while Bill was driving Hillary to the airport, they passed the tudor-revival-style house at 930 California Drive, and Hillary commented that she really liked the house.  Just a month later, when Bill picked Hillary up from the airport, he told her he had bought her “dream house” and proposed.  This, time she says “yes.” Bill paid $17,200 for the home.

The couple moved into the 1931 Tudor-Revival style home that summer.  On October 11, 1975, Bill and Hillary got married in the living room in a small ceremony with just 10-12 family and friends in attendance.  Hillary didn’t plan to wear a wedding dress, but her mother insisted.  So, on the night before the wedding, Hillary and her mother went to the local Dillards and bought a $53 Jessica McClintock dress.  The museum houses a replica of Hillary’s wedding dress, with the original at the Presidential Center in Little Rock.

The dining room served as the “War Room” for Bill Clinton’s 1976 campaign for Arkansas Attorney General. (Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville, Akansas)

While living at the “new” Fayetteville home, the couple plotted Bill’s next political battle — a run for Arkansas Attorney General. The dining room was used as the campaign headquarters and is nicknamed “The War Room.”  In May 1976, Bill won his primary for Arkansas Attorney General.   He did not have a Republican opponent in the general election so in in December 1976, they left their home and moved to Little Rock. 

In 2005, the University of Arkansas acquired the former Clinton home and established the Clinton House Museum.  In 2010, the Clinton House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Fayetteville City Council voted unanimously to rename the street to Clinton Drive.

There’s a handful of memorable stories about Bill and Hillary’s first home together that are probably familiar to many couples.  The museum docent told me that Bill reportedly laid the green tile in front of the fireplace in a couple of weekends. Hillary recalled the story differently such that it took bill months to complete the project.  Bill also tried to wallpaper the breakfast nook, but he did such bad job that the couple took it down shortly thereafter. There’s a photo of the effort in one of the built-in shelves in the breakfast nook.

Fireplace at the Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Breakfast Nook at the Clinton House Museum

Most of the house has been remodeled and updated since the Clintons lived there so it’s hard to get a good feel for what the place really looked like. For example, the screened-in porch where Bill and Hillary would put their mattress during the hot summer months was enclosed in the late 1980s. Likewise, the home’s library, which was once filled from floor-to-ceiling with books on shelves made from 2x4s and cinder blocks, now houses the museum store. The master bedroom contains Hillary-specific artwork and memorabilia instead of bedroom furniture.

The master bedroom at the Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The home’s back yard needs some TLC. The museum tried to plant a garden with the favorite flowers of every First Lady back in 2010, but the most plants didn’t survive, and many of the signs seemed to be missing or had fallen over.   A fiberglass pig leftover from the 2012 Pigshibition adorns the front lawn, and seems a little out of place. 

The museum is free (donations are welcome) so it’s hard to be too critical.  For political junkies like me, I really enjoyed it overall.  It’s fun to imagine the couple’s life in this house, and how it changed so much and so fast.  Visitors do have to use their imagination quite a bit though.  Much of the memorabilia is from the couple’s political life after Fayetteville. The docent at the museum suggested that many artifacts from Bill and Hillary’s time in Fayetteville are at the Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock. Regardless, I think that if you have an hour or so to spare, the Clinton House Museum is worth a visit. 

#4: Hike a Colorful NWA Trail

Northwest Arkansas is filled with numberous mountain biking and hiking trails. Here were our favorites:

Lana’s Favorite: Tanyard Creek Nature Trail (Bella Vista)

Arkansas is known as "The Natural State" and for good reason. If you are looking for a relatively short scenic, informative hike with a suspension bridge and easy access to gorgeous 15-foot waterfall, then look no further than the Tanyard Creek Nature Trail in Bella Vista, Arkansas.   A short paved walking loop lies next to a network of larger trails, with the largest loop being about 2.2 miles.  The trail meanders along Tanyard Creek much of the way.  Volunteers have placed hundreds (that is no exaggeration!) describing the plants, trees, and other artifacts along the trail.  The waterfall was created by run off from nearby Windsor Lake, and is an Instagram favorite – whether you are taking photos from the side or from above.  There are also great photo ops among the rock formations and bridges. We hiked this trail in 2019, and loved it so much that we explored it again on our trip to the area in 2022.  This was my (Lana’s) favorite hike during our stay in Northwest Arkansas.

Watch our video of TANYARD CREEK here.

Suspension Bridge at the Tanyard Creek Nature Trail in Bella Vista, Arkansas

Wildlife at the Tanyard Creek Nature Trail in Bella Vista, Arkansas

Kasie in 2019 at the Tanyard Creek Nature Trail

Kasie’s Favorite: Devils Den State Park

Devils Den State Park is located about 25 miles southwest from Fayetteville. The park offers numerous hiking trails, and popular one is Yellow Rock Trail.  The park is accessible by a very windy narrow Highway 74 (do not take in an RV) on the east OR by Highway 170 on the west. We went on a weekend in October, and saw probably 50+ hikers on the trail, as well as a few mountain bikers.   The massive rock formations ultimately lead to a bluff that sits roughly 300 feet above the valley and provides panoramic views.  Simply put, when the leaves are turning, this hike is amazing!  Btw, this was Kasie’s favorite hike during our six-week stay in Northwest Arkansas.

Watch our video of DEVILS DEN STATE PARK here.

Yellow Rock Trail map at Devil’s Den State Park in Northwest Arkansas

Rock formations at Devil’s Den State Park in Northwest Arkansas

Honorable Mention: Kessler Mountain Regional Park (Fayetteville)

For folks staying in the Fayetteville area who don’t want to make a 25-30 minute drive to Tanyard Creek or Devil’s Den state park, Kessler Mountain is a great alternative for a hike. Kessler Mountain Regional Park is named for the Kessler family who owned 13 acres near the peak in 1866.   The family owned a home and stone wine cellar on the property and operated Kessler’s Wine Hall on West Center Street in Fayetteville.  The park has been a long-time favorite for mountain bikers and hikers.  Its conveniently located just off I-49 about five miles south of downtown Fayetteville. 

The park is also readily accessible on bike via the Cato Springs Trial, which connects up with the Razorback Regional Greenway.  We could easily bike to the park from our campground Southgate RV Park in about 20 minutes, but because we aren’t mountain bikers, we explored Kessler Mountain on foot.  The fall foliage was on full display, and so were some mountain critters.   We had some of our best hikes at Kessler Mountain during our 6-week stay in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

Kessler Mountain Regional Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Terrapin Station and Last Call trail signs at Kessler Mountain Regional Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas

#5: Be Crafty at One (or More) of these NWA Breweries

Northwest Arkansas is home to some stellar craft breweries. Did we go to them all? YES!  In alphabetical order:

Apple Blossom Brewing (Fayetteville) is a good option for those looking for food.  It is more of a restaurant than a brewery, but served its purpose when we were hungry on one of our bike rides.

Bentonville Brewing (Bentonville, duh) had a beer called “Lawyers, Hogs, and Money” so as a recovering attorney and fan of bacon, I had to sample that. Aside from good beer, another bonus about Bentonville Brewing is that there are usually couple of food trucks out back as well as a indoor gastropub.

Bike Rack Brewing (Bentonville) is the best place to go after a broken collarbone.  Long story.  Watch our video.

Boston Mountain Brewing (***) (Fayetteville) gets our vote for the best flight in Fayetteville.  We both loved each of the beers, especially the Pecan Pie Brown Ale.  The brewery is tucked in back in a strip mall, but don’t let that stop you from visiting. 

Columbus House Brewery (Fayetteville) is not just dog friendly, also broad-friendly.  We very much enjoyed our time with the beertender there. We visited on a cold day, and the Spottie Ottie Oatmeal Stout hit…(you guessed it)…. the spot.

Core Brewing (Lowell) is the official craft brewery of the University of Arkansas.  We tried a really good Toasted Coconut Brown Ale, and ended up sharing three pints of that on or visit.   I got excited when I saw cheap case of Core’s Black is Beautiful IPA, but our sample of that beer was pretty bad. Turns out there’s a reason why it was $15/case.

Crisis Brewing (Fayetteville) seemed to be a local favorite as the parking lot quickly filled up after its 4:00 opening time.   I had the Major Milk Stout and the Fustercluck IPA, and enjoyed both. The brewery has a red phone that links directly to the BBQ joint next door for folks get hungry.

Fossil Cove Brewing (***) (Fayetteville) has one of the larger taprooms, and a tented outdoor space makes the brewery feel even bigger.  The brewery still has a great neighborhood vibe and is bike-friendly.  Check out the Blackberry Cream if you visit.

Goat Lab Brewing (Lowell) gets my award for best brewery name in the area.  Who doesn’t like goats? Who doesn’t like dogs?  We liked it enough to visit twice.  There’s a wood fired pizza oven in the brewery as well.

Hawk Moth Brewing (Rogers) has a yuppy vibe with just okay beer.  It wasn’t my favorite, but we only went once so perhaps it deserves another visit. 

Natural State Beer Company (Rogers) is located right by a small lake near Osage Creek.  The brewery’s Octoberfest was a perfect pairing to the patio.  Say that again three times:  perfect patio pairing.

 New Province Brewing (Rogers) offered a Pina Colada IPA, which was a nice change to the classic.  There’s not much to the brewery in terms of a vibe though. This is probably another brewery that I need to visit again to give it another shot.

Ozark Beer Company (***) (Rogers) is probably my overall favorite brewery in the area, with their canned Crème Stout being my go-to take-home stout.  We also always seemed to strike up a nice conversation with someone at the brewery during our visits.  Lastly, the brewery gets a nod for having a blackberry sour called “Like and Subscribe.”

Rendezvous Junction (Rogers) gets my vote for the overall best flight in Rogers.  The brewery has a pretty cool train theme and space, including an upstairs sitting area.

Social Project Brewing (Springdale) deserves a shout-out for having a pickle beer (Big Deal) and enough other good beers to complete a nice flight.  

West Mountain Brewing (Fayetteville) is located on the town square in downtown Fayetteville.  We tried the Octoberfest and Blood Orange IPA while snarfing down some Tiny Tim’s pizza available for order from the bar.

Of course, all of the breweries have their plusses and minuses. We’ve noted our top three breweries with a little asterisk (***) and think you won’t go wrong visiting one of them. For more info on these breweries, check out this video.

#6: Go to Walmart

Bentonville his home to the Walmart Museum.  If you are a frequent Walmart shopper like me, you will probably enjoy the museum.  Check out my blog on the Walmart Museum and video.

Spoiler alert: For me, the best part of the Walmart museum is learning about Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart!

How to Vote While Traveling In Your RV

(first published in December 2022).

One question that RVers need to think about is how to vote in elections.  This issue is important for both (1) part-time RVers who maybe away on a long trip and (2) full-time RVers who are absent from their home base jurisdiction (domicile) much of the year. In this blog, I’ll cover the basics, including how we voted in South Dakota for the first time when we knew we would be hundreds of miles away on Election Day.

The bottom line….voting from the road is not easy and takes some planning. Watch this video to learn more!

Step #1: Register to Vote

Of course, the first step to voting is registering to vote before the applicable state’s registration deadline. All states permit in-person and by-mail registration, and several (but not all) states allow online registration.  Some states even permit same-day registration and voting (see below).  This website is a good resource to learn how each particular state handles voting registration and the deadline.

We registered to vote as part of obtaining our South Dakota driver’s licenses so this step was relatively easy for us.

2023 Update on Voting in South Dakota:

• In 2023, several members of the South Dakota legislature sponsored bills (South Dakota House Bill 1232 and Senate Bill 124) that would significantly impact our right to vote. For example, the house bill states that “no person may register to vote using a business location or campground as a registration address.” On February 15, 2023, the South Dakota Senate State Affairs Committee and the South Dakota House State of Affairs Committee both voted to defer SB 124 and HB 1232 to the “41st legislative day.” Because there are no more than 40 legislative days in a session, both bills were effectively killed.

  A separate bill (SB 139) did get enacted into law. For purposes of voting, “ the the term, residence, means the place in which a person is domiciled as shown by an actual fixed permanent dwelling, establishment, or any other abode to which the person returns after a period of absence.” Further, South Dakota (Section 12-4-1) now requires an applicant to attest, under the penalty of perjury, that the applicant “has maintained residence in South Dakota for at least thirty days prior to submitting the registration form.”

  We are keeping an eye out for how the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office and the local election authorities will interpret this new law as it pertains to full-time RVers who have chosen to domicile in that state.

Here are some articles discussing the issue:

• SOS Candidate Monae Johnson tells delegates that if elected, her intent is to disenfranchise a group of voters (June 16, 2022)

• Voter-registration law has gap, county auditor says (September 29, 2023)

• Auditors: New voter residency rules difficult to manage for local election officials (October 8, 2023)

2024 Update on Voting in South Dakota:

The 2024 legislative session is seeing further attempts to restrict voting by RVers. As originally introduced in December 2023, SB 17 requires a person to maintain a residence “for at least thirty days in the three hundred and sixty-five days immediately prior” to submitting the registration form. This proposed amendment will also be retroactive to any person who registers to vote on or after July 1, 2023. During the legislative session, the Senate approved an amendment to the bill that would remove the 30-day requirement. However, the South Dakota House failed to advance the bill.

Legal Challenges to the New Voting Laws

Challenges to the South Dakota Voting Law

For the June 2024 primary election, Jessica Pollema filed challenges two precincts in Minnehaha County (Sioux Falls): (1) precinct 5-16, which has a polling place at the downtown Sioux Falls public library, and (2) precinct 4-16, which uses Word of Life Pentecostal Church as its polling place. Pollema, an “election integrity” activist, challenged the votes of hundreds of registered voters in those precincts with addresses associated with mail forwarding companies like Dakota Post and Your Best Address. Although the challenge was rejected by Precinct Board 5-16, Precinct Board 4-16 upheld it — which ment that 132 ballots were not counted. The ACLU and the League of Women Voters sent this letter to the South Dakota Secretary of State and the local Recount Board, indicating that such actions were unconstitutional. Ultimately, the Recount Board decided to count all of the challenged ballots

Facial Challenges to the South Dakota Voting Law

So far, no one has come forward to challenge the new South Dakota law on its face.  However, challenges are currently being made to similar durational residency requirements in other states.   See Washington State Alliance for Retired Americans v. Hobbs, Case No. 3:23-cv-06014, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington; North Carolina State Alliance for Retired Americans v. Hirsh, Case No. 1:23-cv-837, U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina.  The complaints in these cases state:

1. The Voting Rights Act (“VRA”) prohibits states from preventing otherwise eligible voters from voting for president and vice president based on how long they have resided in the state before election day. And the United States Constitution prohibits such requirements in all elections.

2. Section 202 of the VRA is explicit: “No citizen of the United States who is otherwise qualified to vote in any election for President and Vice President shall be denied the right to vote . . . in such election because of the failure of such citizen to comply with any durational residency requirement of such State or political subdivision.” 52 U.S.C. § 10502(c) (emphasis added).

3.  Likewise—regarding all elections—the United States Supreme Court has held that “[d]urational residence requirements” that “completely bar from voting all residents not meeting the fixed durational standards” deprive voters of the fundamental right to vote and “impinge[] on the exercise of a second fundamental personal right, the right to travel.” Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330, 336, 338 (1972).

4. To be sure, both the VRA and the U.S. Constitution allow states to impose short, pre-election registration requirements, and to limit registration and voting to bona fide residents. Specifically, the VRA authorizes registration deadlines up to 30 days before a presidential election, 52 U.S.C. § 10502(d), and the U.S. Constitution allows pre-election registration deadlines where “necessary to permit preparation of accurate voter lists,” Marston v. Lewis, 410 U.S. 679, 680–81 (1973).

5. But a registration requirement is different from a pre-election durational residency requirement, which the VRA absolutely prohibits in presidential elections, 52 U.S.C. § 10502(c), and which impinges on fundamental rights to vote and travel, with no adequate justification, in all elections, Dunn, 405 U.S. at 343–60. Both the VRA and the U.S. Constitution protect voters from being denied the fundamental right to vote simply because they moved to a new address shortly before election day, if they otherwise comply with the state’s registration deadlines and other requirements.

(emphasis in original). Similar arguments could be made in South Dakota. We are keeping tabs on these cases as well.

Step #2:  Understand Your Voting Options

States vary widely in how their citizens may vote.  The following ways are likely pertinent to RVers on the road:

• Absentee Voting With an Excuse.   Some states require voters to state a particular reason to vote with an absentee ballot (whether voting absentee in-person at the election office or voting absentee by mail). To receive the absentee ballot, a registered voters must submit a written request.

• Absentee Voting Without an Excuse.  Some states permit voters to vote with an absentee ballot without any reason (whether voting absentee in-person at the election office or voting absentee by mail). To receive the absentee ballot, the registered voter must still submit a written request. This is often referred to as “no-excuse absentee voting.”

• Same-Day Registration and Absentee Voting.   Some states allow a voter to go in-person to the election office, complete the absentee ballot request, and then immediately receive the ballot and vote. 

• All Mail Voting.  In some states, registered voters are automatically mailed a ballot to their voting residence address on file. If the voter is away from the voter’s mailing address, a voter may submit a form so that a ballot can be sent to another address.

• Early Voting.   Some states allow voting prior to Election Day during specified times and locations designated by the state and local election office.   This is sometimes called “advanced voting.”

The  US Vote Foundation is a good resource to learn about the voting methods in each state. 

South Dakota permits absentee voting without an excuse so this is the route that we selected.

Step #3:  Obtain Your Absentee Ballot

While some states permit absentee ballot requests to be submitted online, others require paper copies be mailed or submitted in person to the local election office, perhaps with some sort of proof of identity.   The state’s Secretary of State’s Office and local election office website will likely be the best resource for understanding how an absentee ballot request must be submitted.

For example, when voting in the 2022 midterm elections, in our home state of South Dakota, the absentee ballot request form instructed: “Please print and return to the county auditor in the county you are registered.” I interpreted that statement as requiring that we print out the absentee ballot request form mail the printed form back to the county auditor. The absentee ballot form also indicated that it would need to be notarized or accompanied with copy of the voter’s driver’s license. 

Step 3a:  Print Forms and Make Copies (If Applicable)

Most RVers do not have printers in their RVs so printing an absentee ballot request forms can be cumbersome.  Likewise, most RVers do not have copy machines in their RVs so “makin’ copies” of a driver’s license won’t be as easy (or as funny) as SNL’s Rob Sneider thinks. Lastly, 99.99% of RVers don’t have an on-site notary. While places like Walgreens, Staples, Office depot often have printer and copier services, another good resource for those services is the local library. 

We were going to be camped in Fayetteville, Arkansas during the 2022 midterms. Luckily, the local library offered both printing and copying services, as well as free notary services. Thus, to submit my absentee ballot request, the steps I took were:

• Download the absentee ballot request from the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office

• Fill out the absentee ballot request (unsigned)

• Travel to the Fayetteville Library and print out the absentee ballot request (unsigned)

• Sign the absentee ballot request and make a copy of it (for my records)

• Make a copy of my driver’s license at the Fayetteville Library  

Note: AFTER I did all of this, I noticed that the Pennington County Auditor’s Office does permit absentee ballot requests to be submitted via email. Because South Dakota has adopted the Uniform Electronic Signatures Act, I now think that I could just e-sign the absentee ballot request. Thus, next time, I’m going to try to electronically sign the absentee ballot request (using the /s/ signature designation or inserting an image of my signature), take a photo of my driver’s license, and then email both to the auditor and see if that works. If that is acceptible, this step #3a can be omiited.

Step #3b:  Designate a Mailing Address for the Ballot

Another issue that an RVer may have is determining where the ballot should be sent. Our voter registration address is our America’s Mailbox mailing address in Box Elder South Dakota.  For a fee, this company scans the front of all of our mail, and we can then have the company shred, open, or forward the mail to us.  

While many campgrounds and RV parks permit their residents to receive U.S. mail, many do not.  We happened to be staying at a campground that would not let us receive mail. Thus, we had to figure out how we would actually get a ballot sent to us.   Luckily, many U.S. post offices provide a General Delivery service.  Basically, a voter may use the local post office as the voter’s mailing address to receive mail.  So, when I filled out our South Dakota absentee ballot request, I designated a local post office as the place where my ballot would be sent.  After mailing in the absentee ballot request form, I then went to the post office about ten days later and sure enough, my ballot was there waiting for me.

Presumably, for states that offer voting by mail, General Delivery should work for receiving a ballot in a similar manner.

General delivery also let us bypass the use of America’s Mailbox in the voting process. We didn’t need to have South Dakota send the ballot to our America’s Mailbox South Dakota address and then have America’s Mailbox forward the ballot to us. Of course, had our campground allowed us to receive mail there, we could have designated the campground as our mailing address. However, for some reason, I feel that using the USPS General Delivery seems more secure than using the campground as our mailing address when it comes to something as important as voting.

Not all post offices permit General Delivery so it is best to call and make sure that the post office you want to use does offer General Delivery.

Step #4:  Vote in a Timely Manner

Voting with an absentee ballot or all-mail voting require a voter to proactively plan to vote.  First, the voter needs to submit the request in enough time to actually receive the ballot and send it back in sufficient time.  Some states require the ballot to be actually received by Election Day for it to count.  Other states require that the ballot be postmarked by Election Day and then received within a certain number of days thereafter.  A good resource to find out about each state’s deadline is here.

RVers need to plan ahead so that they are at a location long enough to receive the ballot. In my case, I started the process about a month before Election Day. Luckily, South Dakota has a secure Voter Portal that permits each voter to track the status of their ballot. South Dakota received my request for an absentee ballot about three days after I mailed it. It took another three days to before the Post Office received the ballot, and I could pick it up at the Post Office. South Dakota received my ballot about three days after I mailed it. Thus, in the future, at a minimum, I will probably need to start the absentee voting process at least 10 days prior to the election.

Final Thoughts

Voting is a right. At least for me, it’s an obligation and duty that I owe to my country. Sure, it was a hassle to fill out all of the forms and make some trips to the local library and post office. I wish it was easier, and that we could all vote securely online. Until that day comes, I’ll continue mark my calendar for the next election :-).

Girls Who Like Bacon

The RV lifestyle has blessed us with the ability to visit family and friends.  In this video, Lana reconnects with her old softball team in Kansas City called Girls Who Like Bacon (GWLB).   The team was part of the Heart of America Softball League (HASL) for a number of years.  The players on the team have changed over the years, but they all continue to be a special part of Lana’s life.  We were delighted to learn that Girls Who Like Bacon was being inducted into the HASL Hall of fame.  

This video is dedicated to all of the Bacon girls and bacon fans.   

#GWLB #WWFD #DFIU #PokinSundays #PantsAreForLosers #ForeverBacon

Lyrics to Girls Who Like Bacon Song

Verse I
I like Fric and Frac tacos
For a dollar ninety-five.
I like six-inch Planet Subs
With mustard on the side.

Pizza from D’Bronx.
A little Lu Lu’s pad Thai.
So please tell me what should I eat
To curb my appetite. 

Chorus
I like girls who like bacon.
I like their steak and milk-shakin’.
I like the sweet sweet love makin’.
So don’t be mistaken.
If you won’t dine in with me.
I say we go eat out.   

Verse II
I like Grinder half-ass tots.
Philly steaks with Wiz, please.
I like Rudy’s No. 9 meal, and
Gyros with feta cheese.

Crockpots of little smokies.
Omelets at 3 am.
Gluttony is my second favorite
Seventh deadly sin.

Chorus
Do you like bacon?
Are your taste buds awakening?
For goodness sake let’s
Stop my heart from breakin’.
If you won’t dine in with me.
I say we go eat out.

Verse III
Bloody Mary’s on Sundays.
A beer and a BLT.
Loaded baked potatoes
Are pretty fine bacon things.

Super Nachos from Taco Johns
Jazz’s red beans and rice
They don’t come with bacon – dammit
But they still taste really nice.

Chorus
Will you make me some bacon?
Here’s a pan, just take it.
You’re a woman, you can fake it.  
And that rhymes with naked.
If you won’t dine in with me.
I say we go eat out.

Things to Do In North Central Kansas Along Highway 36

When:  Thursday, September 8 to Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Where to Stay:  Rocky Pond (Belleville, Kansas)
Cost:  $20/night for full hook-ups
Biking: Blue River Trail (Marysville, Kansas)
Beer: Irrigation Ales (Courtland, Kansas) / Kansas Territory Brewing (Washington, Kansas)

One of the things we love about living in our RV on a full-time basis is the flexibility to visit family for significant chunks of time.   We spent about three weeks in my hometown of Belleville in North Central Kansas in the fall of 2022.  Even though I grew up in the area, I still like coming back to see those gorgeous Kansas sunrises and sunsets, to gawk at the sunflower fields, and to drive out to the family farm.  This year, I also checked out some other local things to do in the area.

Highway 36 Treasure Hunt

Highway 36 Treasure Hunt - Belleville Kansas (Crossroads of America)

Belleville (population 2,007) is known as the Crossroads of America because it lies at the intersection of Highway 81 and Highway 36.  For the past few years, most of the towns along Highway 36 have organized the Highway 36 Treasure Hunt (usually in mid-September).  Basically, it’s a HUGE garage sale that spans most of Kansas!   Most of the towns have either google maps or pdf maps online, with a teaser of the type of goods that might be found at the various locations.

My parents recently downsized from their home, but that didn’t stop my mother from hunting for some treasures! The video of my mother and me shopping for bargains is priceless.  

Local Breweries

Irrigation Ales (Courtland Kansas)

Our flight at Irrigation Ales in Courtland, Kansas

Craft breweries are all the rage.  We’ve probably been to 400+ breweries, but there is something special about Irrigation Ales brewery about a mile from Highway 36 in Courtland, Kansas (population 294). The brewery is a nod to the local irrigation canals, and there’s some old patent drawings on the walls showing the evolution of irrigation systems.  

Luke and Jennifer Mahin opened the place in early 2022, with a little help from Luke’s dad.  Luke grew up in Courtland and was the director of economic development in Republic County for twelve years before opening the brewery.   We could immediately tell Luke knows a lot about running a business….and beer.  The brewery is only open Thursday-Saturday, but there’s usually live music, a book signing, bingo gathering, or some other event happening. The brewery also partners with the local restaurants on some occasions so that customers often have food options as well. The brewery’s social media is always giving a shout-out to some of the other small business in the area so that’s nice too.   As for the beer, I liked the Scandiego, a West Coast IPA that gets its name from neighboring town, Scandia (population 344), while Kasie liked the Dunkel Cold Medina.  My mother sipped on her Lovewell Lager as she reminicsed about the irrigation tubes she had to carry as a kid. The beer selection rotates quite a bit so customers are sure to like something on the list.    

Kansas Territory Brewing

Who likes Pineapple Life Coach from Kansas Territory Brewing? (Hint: We do!)

Washington, Kansas (population 1,071) is home to Kansas Territory Brewing.  We had visited the old downtown brewery several times (as we wrote about here), but this was our first time at the new facility on the south side of town just off Highway 15. Owners Brad and Donna Portiener own the very successful Bradford Built truck bed manufacturing plant next door and spared no expense with the new facility. 

The new “brewery” is HUGE – and includes a beer production facility, large tap room, outdoor patio, gazebo, and separate distillery, which was still undergoing construction at the time of our visit.   Simply put, the brewery is not just a brewery; it’s an event space. The brewmaster remembered us from our last visit, and once again, gave us a tour of the facility.   We came home with TWO cases of the Pineapple Life Coach Lager if that tells you how much we like it. 

Black Squirrel City

Marysville - Black Squirrel Ordiance

Marysville, Kansas (population 3,447) is big enough to have a Walmart, but small enough that it hasn’t lost its charm.  We’ve driven through the town several times, and I’ve always wanted to figure out the story behind all of those decorative fiberglass squirrels.

In 1912, a carnival passing through town had a cage of black squirrels as a sideshow attraction. A young boy felt sorry for them so he decided to release them. As the population of black squirrels grew over time, the city embraced them (much to the chagrin of the resident brown squirrels and grey squirrels, I’m told).  In 1972, Marysville even enacted The Black Squirrel Ordinance (No. 1027), which protects the black squirrels by imposing a $25 fine if one is harmed.  That ordinance also designated the black squirrel as the “Marysville City Mascot” and proclaimed an annual “black squirrel day.” 

In 2016, the city installed 34 fiberglass black squirrel sculpture throughout the city.   We made a day out of trying to find each one as you will see in our video!  (Confessions: We cheated with this map. We also could not find Caleb at the Pepsi-Cola bottling center).  Not too long after we visited, the town celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Black Squirrel with a big festival and the unveiling of 17 new squirrels to bring the total statue count to 50. I guess we will have to go back to see the new black squirrels (and get the story on Caleb’s whereabouts) next time we are in the area.   

Travel Tip: During our squirrely explorations, we also learned that Marysville provides FREE CAMPING in the city park for five days.  From what we could tell, there are a couple of electrical hook-ups, and it looks like water is available for RVers who want to fill their tanks.

Frida the Black Squirrel in Marysville, Kansas

Biking in the Blue River Trail

Marysville is also the starting point for the the Blue River Trail, and we decided to make another trip to Marysville with our electric bikes to ride the trail.  At the Kansas-Nebraska border (about 12 miles from Marysvillle), the trail connects up with the Standing Bear Trail.  That trail is named after the Indian leader and pays homage to the Ponca “Trail of Tears” that follows the route. A good historical summary can be found here. The Blue River Trail is brick in town, but crushed gravel the rest of the way. It’s a flat, easy ride with the occastional glimpse of the Big Blue River. The trail is covered much of the way by trees, which was a little surprising to me, given that it runs right through several farming communities.

The Blue River Trailhead in Marysville, Kansas

Blue River Trail near Marysville, Kansas

Blue River Trail in Marysville, Kansas

Where to Stay:  Rocky Pond (Belleville, Kansas) – A $20/night bargain!

Rocky Pond RV Park and Dog Park in Belleville, Kansas

Rocky Pond is my favorite campground! The fifteen 50-amp full hook-up sites are all first-come first-serve for just $20/night, and campers can stay as long as they want. There are also some cozy cabins for rent adjacent to Rocky Pond that are not owned by the city.  The pond area contains a nice fountain, new showers/bathrooms (undergoing construction at the time of our visit), small pier, and picnic shelter areas. Adjacent to the RV park is a the “Buff Ruff” dog park, and within walking distance are the Belleville fairgrounds, home to the fastest half-mile dirt track in America.   Just beyond that is a city park with swimming pool, basketball courts, horse shoe games, and an outdoor amphitheater.  Simply put, RVers will find a lot of outdoor activities to do when camping at Rocky Pond.

If you are traveling on Highway 36 during the holidays, be sure and check out the Christmas Light display at Rocky Pond, which I previously wrote about here. Or, if you are not in the area, just enjoy the video of the 2021 Rocky Pond Light Display below.

WARNING: Unfortunately, RVers may have some difficulty finding a site at Rocky Pond starting in the fall 2022.   In September 2022, the Republic County commissioners approved a huge controversial wind farm development in the county, despite a massive public outcry.  Unless the city council decides to designate some RV sites as being available for locals or true RVers, all of the sites at Rocky Pond are likely going to be filled up by construction workers working on the wind farm.  I raised this issue with the Belleville City Council when I was in town, but so far, there has not been any changes on the rules governing Rocky Pond. If you care about Rocky Pond, please reach out to the Belleville City Council.

Final Thoughts

Sure, I’m biased about the area where I grew up. I didn't start feeling that way until I actually had the time to appreciate all that small town life has to offer. I owe a lot of that to RVing. RVing some place — even some place that I thought I knew because I lived there for 18 years — has made all of of the difference. What does North Central Kansas have to offer? Community. Family. Nature. Good Beer. There’s a sense of familiarity here, but also adventure. You just have to look for it.

Minneapolis - Walking and Biking

In August 2022, we spent five weeks staying in St. Cloud, Minnesota. St. Cloud is about 70-80 minutes to downtown Minneapolis (depending on traffic).  We decided to make the trek into the big city to explore it on a couple of days.

Downtown Minneapolis on Foot

On our first trip to Minneapolis, we purchased tickets to a Royals-Twins game at Target Field, and had just a few hours to explore the downtown area near the stadium.  We parked our Jeep at the Mill Ruins Park and then strolled along the Stone Arch bridge.  The bridge which is 2100 feet long and contains 23 arches, was used by the railroads from for decades to cross the Mississippi River and then converted to a biking/walking pathway in 1994.   A metal truss section was added as part of the lock and dams added to St. Anthony Falls in the 1950s and 1960s to permit barges to pass through the bridge.  We marveled at the falls and the other bridges in the area, all while listening to the not-so-wonderful sounds of the Central Avenue bridge construction in the background.   

Although I lived in Kansas City for many years and consider myself a Royals fan, I’ve lost track of the boys in blue the past few years.  We used to have the game on every night back in the 2013-2017 era when the Royals not just competitive, but World Series champs.  While I enjoyed my first trip to Target Field, the Royals notched another loss that day.   Oh well, there’s always next year, right?  

On the Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis Minnesota

At Target Field for a Minnesota Twins Game

Minneapolis By Bike

On another day, we decided to explore Minneapolis on bike by riding a good chunk of the 51-mile Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway.   Our ride included most of the Mississippi River (9.2 miles), Downtown Riverfront (1.2) miles, Chain of Lakes (13.3 miles), and Minnehaha Byway (12.6 miles) districts.  We started at the Wabun picnic area in Minnehaha Falls Park because parking is free there.  The 167-acre park was one of the first in the United States – established in 1883.  The park features a vast network of trails, picnic areas, and a majestic 53-foot waterfall that is easily accessible to visitors. 

Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis Minnesota

After viewing the Minnehaha Falls, we biked along the Mississippi River northward, jutted over to University of Minnesota (St. Paul side) to the Weisman Art Museum.  We neglected to realize that the art museum is closed on both Monday and Tuesdays so we were not able to visit the museum.   We tooled around the campus and then headed back across the river to not only see the amazing Stone Arch Bridge again, but ride through one of the arches (pretty cool!). 

We made our way northward along the trail towards Pryes Brewing, where we had a decent pepperoni pizza and beer.  Suprisingly, there aren’t a lot of breweries that are located directly on the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, let alone one that serves food, but the place served its purpose. Then, Kasie used her GPS on her phone as we meandered through downtown by the Mary Tyler Moore Statue (700 Nicollet Mall) and Prince Mural (101 N 9th St) so that I could do some cheese touristy videos/photos.  Our next destination was the Sculpture Garden by the Walker Art museum.   We spent nearly an hour there (I could have spent MUCH more time there), marveling at Katharina Fritsch’s big blue rooster, Claes Oldenburg’s Spoonbridge and Cherry, and other works of art.  Of course, we had to get a photo in front of Robert Indiana’s LOVE sign.  To complete the loop, we biked by the some of the chain of lakes (Lake of the Isles, Bde Maka Ska, and Lake Harriet) and then met up with the Minnehaha Parkway (which goes by both Lake Hiawatha and Lake Nakomis) before reaching Minnehaha Falls park. 

Sculpure Park in Minneapolis Minnesota

Minneapolis is one the most bike-friendly cities that we’ve encountered to date. The city’s investment in the trail system makes is relatively easy to explore the city. Even though Minneapolis is a big city, the vehicles were courteous to bikers along our route. It’s definitely a city that we would like to go back to and explore in greater detail.

Paisley Park: An Honest Review

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this [Ultimate Tour of Paisley Park].

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this [Ultimate Experience Tour of Paisley Park].”

Okay.  Okay. Those aren’t the lyrics.  But I’d like to think that Prince would have just laughed if he heard me singing the altered version in his honor.  

Prince gave his fans a lifetime of fresh music, fashion, and entertainment. His passing on April 21, 2016 feels just like yesterday.  During our stay in central Minnesota in September 2022, I wanted to pay homage to Prince by visiting Paisley Park.

Here’s what I learned about Paisley Park (and what you should know before going there):

1. What Kind of Prince Fan am I? Casual or hard core?

2. About Paisley Park

3. What are the Paisley Park Photo Policies?

4. Paisley Park Layout

   • Paisley Park Atrium and Adjacent Rooms

   • Paisley Park Recording Studios

     • Studio A at Paisley Park

     • Studio B at Paisley Park

     • Studio C at Paisley Park

   • The Influence Wall

   • The Shoes! at Paisley Park

5. Photo Time:  Where you take photos at Paisley Park

   • Sound Stage

   • NPG Music Club

6. Concluding Thoughts on Paisley Park

About Me: What Kind of Prince Fan?

Confession.  I’m just a casual Prince fan.  I was in junior high when 1999 (1982) and Purple Rain (1984) came out.  I purchased the cassette tapes, and liked them enough that I later bought the CDs as an adult.   I know the lyrics to mainstream hits like Raspberry Beret and Kiss, but only from the radio. I could tell you that Prince had bandmates named Wendy and Lisa because of Computer Blue (and that probably had a crush on them that I didn’t fully appreciate until later in life). BUT, beyond those ladies and Morris Day and the Time, I don’t think I could name many more of his bandmates or associates.  

Fun Fact: Prince's real name was Prince Rogers Nelson. I guess he was destined for fame.

I was hoping that by booking the $175/person (with taxes/fees) three-hour “Ultimate Experience Tour“ at Paisley Park, my casual fandom might immediately turn into something more. I suppose it did, but not in the way I expected. Sure, several purple-clad superfans in my 18-person group wept, hummed, and smiled A LOT.  A pair of middle-aged sisters even made the trek from Maryland just to see Paisley Park, one of them in a wheelchair with her purple headwrap declaring this to be on her “bucket list.” So yes, for more dedicated fans, the tour is clearly worth it. For me, I’m not so sure……

About Paisley Park

Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota

Constructed in mid-1980s after Purple Rain, Paisley Park is located in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, where Prince was born and raised.  The name Paisley Park shares its name with a song from Prince's 7th studio album Around the World In a Day (1985):  

Admission is easy, just say you
Believe and come to this
Place in your heart
Paisley Park is in your heart

Prince loved paisley because it has so many different sizes and colors (not just purple).  In building Paisley Park, Prince envisioned a sanctuary space of love and peace, without limits on his creativity.

The 65,000 ft^2 space served as both his home and recording studio.  Surprisingly, the building’s exterior looks like large office complex, and isn’t homey or inviting at all.  Stark white metal panels. Few windows. Little landscaping. Prince valued his privacy, and the design of Paisley Park seems to have been created with that in mind.

The museum website emphases that Paisley Park was Prince’s “home.”

In some respects, the “Ultimate Experience” tour doesn’t feel very ultimate or inviting either. The tour does not involve any of Prince’s living quarters, which are on the second floor of Paisley Park.  Likewise, the tour does not involve the famous “Vault,” where Prince kept his archival recordings and other documents. Instead, with all of the tour options, visitors only see areas on the first floor that Prince considered to be public and that have a very commercial feel.  I didn’t know that going in, and perhaps that is one reason why I was a little disappointed in the tour. Indeed, the museum’s website emphasizes both the “home” and “studio” aspects.  My point is that it would have been nice to better understand the limited scope of the tour from the Paisley Park website.

This bedroom is NOT on the Ultimate Experience Paisley Park Tour. Photo from Carver County

White Room at Paisely Park is NOT on the Ultimate Experience Paisely Park Tour. Photo from Carver County

White Room at Paisley Park is NOT on the Ultimate Experience Paisley Park Tour. Photo from Carver County

Prince’s “Vault” is NOT part of the Ultimate Experience Paisley Park Tour. Photo from Carver County

Paisley Park Photo Policies

The Paisley Park website DOES make it very clear about its restrictive photo policy.  Before we entered the building’s foyer, we were asked to place our phone and cameras in to a locked bag that we could carry with us and would be unlocked later in the tour Basically, we would be able to take photos in just two areas of Paisley Park: the concert venue and the night club. I knew about the photo policy going in, but that is the only tour I’ve ever been on that takes such precautions. 

The restrictive photo policy is probably consistent with how Prince tried to protect some aspects of his life.   Prince had a long history of suing people about his name, image, and likeness and other intellectual property (but often dropping the lawsuits later).  For example, in 2007, Stephanie Lenz made a viral 29-second YouTube video of her toddler dancing to part of Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy.  Prince let his publisher, Universal Music, know that he was not happy about the video.  Universal asked YouTube to remove the video pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and then Lenz sued, saying that the publisher had not taken into account “fair use.”  In what copyright lawyers like me refer to as the “dancing baby case,” the appellate court agreed, essentially ruling against Prince.  As another example, in 2014, Prince sued nearly a dozen online users for unauthorized bootlegs of his recordings in Prince v. Chodera.  Some of these people just linked to the unauthorized recordings using Google’s Blogger Platform or Facebook.  Less than a month later, he withdrew the lawsuit because of a big public backlash.   Not surprisingly, visitors to Paisley Park won’t learn any of that in the “Ultimate Experience” tour. There really isn’t time for IP disputes, and besides, the tour largley avoids Prince’s controveries (more on that below).

As someone who practiced intellectual property law for 25+years, I don’t hold anything against Prince for aggressively enforcing his intellectual property. Having said that, the inability to take any pictures (even for private non-commercial use) throughout much of the tour does detract from experience.

It’s difficult to review the Paisley Park :”Ultimate Experience” tour without photos. While I would have like to use my own photos, the next best thing are probably those that Carver County released in connection with the investigation of his death. Thus, most of the photos in this blog are from Carver County. Although Carver County no longer hosts the photos on its website, many of them can be found online from other sources. One of the best repositories that I found was this website.

Now…on with a review the “Ultimate Experience” tour!

The Paisley Park Atrium and Other Adjacent Rooms

After congregating in the lobby, the “Ultimate Experience” tour begins with a short trip to the atrium. On the way, we first encounter a wall filled with numerous framed recording awards (I liked the gold-encassed cassette tapes the best!) and a mural of Prince’s eyes looking down from above.   The tour guide does not mention that the behind the solid wall, there used to be an opening with an elevator. This is the elevator where Prince died of a fentanyl overdose. While I understand that the museum wants the tour to focus on Prince’s wonderful life and not his death, the museum’s shouldn’t sugar-coat where or how he died. I think it deserves at least a mention.

Fun Fact: Prince’s doves, “Divinity" and "Majesty", are credited for "ambient singing" on the album One Nite Alone.

The atrium is comprised of pyramidal glass skylights, cloud-filled walls, and even a couple of caged doves on the second floor. Our tour guide tried to get the doves to sing for us, but they weren’t having it. We are told that on special occasions, Prince’s ashes are brought out for display in the atrium in a customized ceramic container that is a scale replica of Paisley Park. We collectively think to ourselves about how the doves likely let out a good cry then.  The atrium floor features Prince’s “Love Symbol #2” to which Prince famously changed his name in 1993 during a lengthy recording contract dispute with his label, Warner Brothers.  

Lobby of Paisley Park. Photo from Carver County

Lobby of Paisely Park. Photo from Carver County

Hallway to Atrium with Mural of Prince’s eyes. Photo from Carver County

Fun fact: Even though Prince was just 5’3”, he played on his high school basketball team.

There are several small rooms directly off the atrium.  There’s a small kitchen with a purple vending machine (not for public use), diner booths, and a TV where Prince reportedly watched a lot of basketball, including Timberwolves and Lynx games.  His favorite food was reportedly pancakes, and because Prince was a vegetarian, they still do not served meat in the museum.

Atrium of Paisely Park with view to the Kitchen. Photo from Carver County

Atrium of Paisley Park. Prince’s private quarters were on the second floor. He envisioned the first floor to one day be a museum. Photo from Carver County

First floor kitchen area: Photo from Carver County

Just off the atrium, closet-like rooms for Dirty Mind and Controversy and full rooms for Diamonds and Pearls and Lovesexy contain costumes, instruments, other artifacts, and of course, the music from the album. Our tour guide tells us that these rooms were were largely created while Prince was alive and emphasizes that Prince envisioned Paisley Park to one day be a museum.

Prince’s business office. Photo from Carver County

Another room just off the atrium contains Prince’s business office. Much of the room is gold (the rest being purple, duh!), including the walls and vinyl floors.   There’s a pile of books with a Bible on top, a dimpled portrait of Jimi Hendrix, and a stack of records Prince purchased shortly before his death.   A photo shrine to a small girl catches my eye.  The child is Yara Shahidi, the daughter of Afshin Shahidi and now the star of Black-ish and Grown-ish.  The tour guide tells us that the roped off area is pretty much how it looked when Prince lived there. (That’s an exaggeration because the room has been tidied up quite a bit!)

Fun Fact: The Pantone Color Institute created a special purple in Prince’s honor, aptly named Love Symbol #2

We proceed to an editing bay, where Prince would review his concert footage.  We sit in director’s chairs, the lights go out, and Nikki starts to grind.  No.  Wait.  We watch a VERY LOUD unreleased video from Prince’s concerts and other “insider” footage. I don’t consider myself to have any hearing issues but I cover my ears at times because it was SO LOUD. On the way out, I spot some ear plugs and later wish I would have grabbed some.  

The Paisley Park Recording Studios

Our “Ultimate Experience” tour also includes a stop by three of Prince’s recording studios.  On the way to the first studio, we encounter a purple meditation room and watch a small clip of Prince’s famous interview with Oprah.   This “Galaxy Room” has asymetrical curved walls painted with stars, planets, and what appear to be a backwards version Prince’s Love Symbol #2 illuminated by ultraviolet light. Our tour continues, and we are all amped to see where Prince’s music was made!

Studio B

Studio B at Paisley Park. Photo from Carver County

Studio B (the first studio stop on our tour) includes one live room, one vocal room and a central room with a huge 48-track recording device filled with all sorts of buttons, equalizer slides, and cords.  It looks like the mother of all mother boards to me.   Prince recorded and then edited many of the various tracks in his songs (drums, bass, guitar, vocals, etc) using the very heavy analogue tape reels.  Our tour guide shows us a large reel, which would house about 15 minutes worth of music.  To edit the tapes, Prince himself would physically cut and reattach the tape pieces together.  Today, most people (like me) lay tracks digitally using fancy software like Audacity.   Here, I really appreciate how Prince not only created music, but perfected the music to his liking.

Studio B at Paisley Park.

Studio B sits on the other side of the men’s bathroom wall.  Prince reportedly would pump up the volume so much in the control room that the he cracked the tiles in the bathroom next door.  The wall was repaired, re-cracked, and re-repaired several times because no one wanted to tell Prince he couldn’t turn it up to 11!

The live room of Studio B includes a large photo mural of Prince with his bandmates, 3RDEYEGIRL.   A custom Yamaha purple baby grand piano that matches the color of favorite couch of Prince’s sits behind a rope. A white hat rests on the piano, and our tour guide tells us that the hat was there on the day he passed. 

Our tour guide takes 3-4 photos of each of us standing on a purple “X” by a purple guitar with Prince looming overhead. We are encouraged to play ping pong while we wait.   Yes, Prince loved ping-pong and was apparently pretty good at it.  Here’s where visitors imagine what it would be like to be in the recording studio with ping-pong breaks.   

Fun Fact: Prince played Micheal Jackson in a game of ping pong in December 1985.

Studio A

Studio A (~1500 square feet) is larger than Studio B (~1000 square feet) is comprised of parquet wood floors and granite-walled and wood-walled isolation rooms that each provide different acoustical spaces for artists.  While granite walls are better for enhancing digital recording, the wooden rooms are better for the acoustics of resonating instruments.  One of the isolations room holds a drum set, another room contains various guitars and microphones, and we are told a third room was used for live horn recordings . Our guide tells us that Studio A has hosted the likes of Madonna, James Brown, R.E.M, and Aretha Franklin.  While in Studio A, we hear unreleased music recorded by Prince for a jazz album he was working on just before his passing. It is a moving moment.

The control room for Studio A sits behind a glass wall and we cannot go in there. We see a large drum machine and Yamaha DX7 synthesizer Prince used to make  “When Doves Cry” in 1983.  In one of the isolation rooms, a music stand holds a notebook with handwritten lyrics to the last song Prince was creating before he passed.  Five Grammy awards are on display, and one of them is missing the metal plaque at the bottom. 

Studio C

Studio C is a dance/choreography studio with basketball flooring that Prince also used to play hoops.  The room houses rotating special exhibits, and during our visit, the room is filled with photographs of taken by Randee St. Nicholas over the course of 25 years of Prince’s life.   A chandelier made from a drum dangles from the center of the room, which is on loan from a former drummer.     

The Paisley Park Influence Wall

Just outside of Studio A is the Influence Wall commissioned by Prince in 2007.   Prince is flanked by artists that influenced him on one side (Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, Chaka Khan, Joni Mitchel, Carlos Santana, and James Brown) and band members and artists he influenced (Lisa and Wendy from The Revolution, Cat Glover, Apollonia, Vanity 6, Morris Day and The Time, Sheila E. and others) on the other side.   This is where I feel really old because I don’t know many of the names that our tour guide mentions. The “superfans” in the group nod their heads at the names.

The Shoes!

My favorte part of the tour is The Beautiful Collection: Prince's Custom Shoes.  The exhibit includes more than 300 pairs of custom-made shiny, dazzly, high-heeled shoes.  Many of the shoes are labeled to indicate when Prince wore them, and there is a video playing in the background showing Prince in action.  Several shoes have “friction burns” from all of Prince’s skipping, sliding, and dancing.  We learn that at some point, the designers included a metal brace between the sole and the heel.   Here, I am reminded of Prince’s wide-ranging fashion sense, but also just how hard this man worked.  

Fun Fact: Prince wore a women’s size 5 1/2 or 6.    

Many of the shoes are displayed on a 3D-printed baby grand piano that was created for the exhibit.  The piano is comprised of 45 individual parts fused together.  The legs on the piano are replica Cloud Guitars, one of Prince’s most iconic guitar shapes. I marvel at this masterpiece.  

Finally….Photo Time!

Fun Fact: The “Love Symbol #2” is an amalgam of both the Venus and Mars gender symbols.

After going through some more award-studded hallways, we arrive at another lobby area where we watch a brief video on Prince’s name change to the Love Symbol #2.  To the best of my recollection, this is really the only time that our tour directly addresses one of Prince’s controveries. Our phones are unlocked from their cases and we proceed to the four-story-high, 12,500-square-foot soundstage that is connected to the NPG Music Club.

Sound Stage at Paisley Park

The Sound Stage is where Prince practiced for his live performances.  We are encouraged to listen and dance as we watch old video footage, including his legendary 2007 Super Bowl half-time show.  The room is filled with two cars (a light blue Bentley and a purple Plymouth Prowler), the motorcycles from Purple Rain, a bicycle, a few pianos, and several over-the-top outfits that Prince wore.  Because people can take photos and videos of this area, this is what you will find when you search the internet for details.   The “Ultimate Experience” includes non-alcoholic beverages served on a purple couch in the corner of the room, and access to some additional artifacts in a trunk that our guide tells us not to photograph. 

Sound Stage at Paisely Park

Sound stage area at Paisley Park

Fun Fact: The Paisley Park Soundstage was used to shoot scenes from Grumpy Old Men and commercials for companies like Burger King, McDonald’s, and various car companies.

NPG Music Club

The tour ends in the NPG Music Club (named for the New Power Generation), where Prince performed and threw parties for the surrounding community. Today, Paisley Park occasionally offers an “After Dark” experience that allows guests to enjoy a live dance party in the NPG Music Club.  There’s a mural there above one of the seats were many in out tour group (including us) decide is good photo op.

Mural inside the NPG Music Club

NPG Music Club at Paisley Park

Hold on. Like most commercial tour, our tour of Paisley actually ends with the gift shop. There isn’t anything special about the gift shop insofar as all of the shirts, hats, vinyl records, and other trinkets can probably be purchased online. Kasie finds some ping pong balls that look cute. However, because we live in our RV on a full-time basis, we don’t have the room for more stuff so we didn’t spend that much time in the gift area and don’t purchase anything.

Outside of the building, there’s also a memorial fence where fans can leave notes and other items to honor Prince. The curators at Paisley Park reportedly collect the items every now and then and preserve them.

Concluding Thoughts on Paisley Park

So…what did I think of the Paisely Park “Utimate” tour? I certainly came away with a MUCH greater appreciation for the volume of works that Prince created — in music, fashion, film, and so on. The Paisley Park tour is a well-orchestrated teaser that left me wanting to know more about the “real” Prince. AFTER the tour, I’ve now spent countless hours listening to his music and reading about his life. Yet, in many respects, in contrast to the Paisley Park tour, to get a better sense of how Prince lived, I learned more about the “real” Prince by reading his wiki page and then viewing some of the Carver County crime scene photos.

Because the second floor and Vault were off-limits, the tour seems superficial and white-washed at times. Fans care about his music, but they also care deeply about the life that Prince lead — even though that was quite messy and confusing at times. Paisley Park feels like it’s run by Prince’s PR firm; it largely ignores the complexities and controversies of his life and death.

The Utimate Experience at Paisley Park is pricey at $175/person (with taxes and fees). I don’t regret spending that much money, but in hindsight, I’m not sure I got my money’s worth. For casual Prince fans like me, consider doing a cheaper tour option ($48/person + taxes/fees) that will likely cover the highlights in just 1.5 hours and then do some more reading and listening afterwards.

I also hope that Paisley Park revises its restrictive photo and video policy. To truly remember and appreciate Paisely Park, it really helps to have photos and videos to look back on. Fans are still going to come, even if the internet is flooded with images. People love Prince, and that will never change.

Thanks for reading. Now, I’m going to go party like it’s 1999.